Resource centre needs vehicle

National

A RESOURCE centre in Chimbu is unable to reach out to more than 400 people with special needs because its only vehicle has broken down.
Mingende Callan Service Resource Centre has not rolled out its programme to remote communities in the province over the last three months.
Events coordinator Martin Kawage said the centre needed a new vehicle to reach to students with special needs.
“The only vehicle we used to reach our distant clients with has broken down,” he said.
The centre caters for more than 400 people with disabilities, among them are 175 children with special needs that attend mainstream schools in Chimbu’s six districts.
Kawage said about 230 adults were engaged in basic livelihood activities through a rehabilitation programme in their communities.
He said the centre provided an inclusive educational programme for children with special needs and rehabilitation programmes.
Kawage said the centre identified their talents and conducted in-service training to mainstreams schools and integrated special needs students.
“Mingende Callan Service Resource Centre is one of the 23 established resource centres in the country which cares for and promotes the rights of disabled children to access education and empowers them with assistive devices to live independent lives,” he said.
Kawage said the Mingende centre had been greatly impacted as the centre’s teachers were unable to visit students on a regular basis.
He said the team were in Port Moresby to do a fundraising drive to buy a vehicle and to continue to support those with disabilities in Chimbu.