A mother of a disabled child who attends our newest project - the Rwamwanja Inclusion Project , based within Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement in Uganda , shares her observations of some of the way that engaging in play over the last four months has already helped her young child to develop.
Many people consider that children with impairments are difficult and expensive to include in humanitarian initiatives , because they need 'specialist' services. This means that disabled young people are almost always left behind. They are denied access to social spaces, excluded from development projects and isolated from their community.
But for any child, a safe and nurturing environment that encourages them to play, explore and learn is sometimes all that is needed to start to make progress in their development. Thatโs what our playschemes are about โ creating inclusive spaces where every child has the chance to grow.
Thankyou to all our supporters in 2025!
To all our supporters in 2025...
A heartfelt ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐-๐ฌ๐ข๐จ to everyone who donated, liked/shared our campaigns, or supported us in any way in 2025.
Because of you, more children at risk of isolation could access our play projects โ safe spaces to play, learn, and receive therapeutic support. Together, weโve grown our reach with more play days, a new project in Rwamwanja, Uganda, and stronger local partnerships, helping fight the exclusion that harms disabled young people.
Looking forward to 2026, we are so excited to be launching our new project in Eswatini, expanding existing projects further, and working with our partners to empower communities for change.
The Power of Music!
๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ!
Our play teams often use traditional singing and drumming as an inclusive play exercise at our projects. Every child has a role, adapted to their needs, from drumming to dancing to supported clapping.
As well as being an accessible group activity, music plays a crucial role in child development...
*Engaging with music helps to create neural pathways in the brain which are essential for language acquisition, memory and problem solving.
*Making music often involves movement such a clapping, dancing and playing instruments which enhances childrenโs motor skills such as coordination and spatial awareness.
*Singing and dancing together provides a safe space for children to express their emotions.
Above all these developmental benefits, most importantly, children are able to interact and have fun together!
Improving Communication Through Play!
When T was registered for the playscheme, just over a year ago, she did not speak at all. Through regular social interaction, targeted communication and encouragement at our Gambian playscheme, she has begun to communicate verbally. Here she is seen proudly practising her counting!
Positive social interaction is so important for any childโs language development, especially if they struggle with any developmental delays. Thatโs why our playschemes are so important for ensuring children do not miss out on the vital ingredients for early years development!
The Power of Play!
Play is an essential ingredient for healthy brain development. Our wonderful playscheme in Kawama, Zambia, have been running activities that help children to develop their motor skills, practice turn taking and working together to solve problems (as seen in this clip- a big problem of rescuing their shoes from being tied in a web!)
Supporting Excluded Disabled Children Into Education!
It is common that disabled children in traditional low income communities are not sent to school. Even where primary education is free, it is not deemed worth the costs of uniforms, lunches or transport to send them to school. In many cases, schools are not appropriate place for them anyway, as special education training provision is extremely limited, and classrooms are often under staffed and overpopulated. Children with developmental delays are often quickly disregarded and excluded from education from the start.
Our project teams are on a mission to change this! In The Gambia, we have recently partnered with Gambian School Support to sponsors the transition of pre-school aged children who have shown capacity to learn at playscheme, into a high quality preschool, giving them the best start in their education. Our play teams visit frequently to monitor their progress and demonstrate to classroom staff how best to support them. The children are thriving, with one keen student learning all his letter sounds in 2 weeks!
"๐๐'๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ, ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ถ๐ด๐บ๐ฎ, ๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐๐ป'๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ก".
Last year, Campo Commodities, who provide custom food ingredients across African markets, raised a staggering 37,000 euros for our Gunjur Inclusion Project in The Gambia. Their support has helped to fund an In-House Physio Unit, and a minibus to transport even more isolated disabled children to play.
Representatives from the amazing Campo Team recently visited the Gunjur Inclusion Centre to get a glimpse of daily life, and find out from our team why the support of partners like Campo is so vital to the development of community services for Disabled Children across Africa .
๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐!
One of the key benefits we see from our play-schemes is that physically impaired children improve their mobility, sometimes even learning to walk. Before accessing our projects, parents often assume that physically impaired children will never learn to walk, so they are not encouraged to practise, or provided with the necessary aids to help them learn. When a child joins a Disability Africa play-scheme, our play teams will consistently encourage them to practise maximising their mobility during play. Each project also provides access to weekly physiotherapy sessions to help build their strength and mobility. Through partnerships with the amazing Caring For Mobility (The Gambia) and local health services (Kenya, Zambia), we help children to access life changing mobility aids to facilitate their movement. Here Manu, Amie and Ousman are taking their first steps asthey learn to walk at playschemes over the last 6 months.
Explore our Videos on Instagram
You can explore our recent activities at @disabilityafrica on Instagram , where we post regular video and photo content of our projects.
What we have learnt...
Florence and Nyevu, carers for disabled children and volunteers at the Malanga Inclusion Project, tell us what they have learnt in the short time they have been volunteering.
The Power Of Play: Kenya
Mwalimu Kombe and Katana Emmanuel, Playworkers at Bahati Primary School, talk about the power of play.
Play changes attitudes...
Jefwa and Baraka, Playworkers at Malanga Primary School, talking about how play changes negative attitudes:
Simple Stuff Working Wonders
The power of play summed up in less than two minutes