With HI’s support, Vincent can go to school with his friends

Vincent has six brothers and sisters. Their mother, Assibi, has a cleaning job and sells tchapalo, a sorghum-based drink, and their father, Likoulhan, is a farmer. But the family is very poor. With HI's support, Vincent benefits from personalised tutoring that is helping him make progress at school.

A resourceful and determined young boy

Vincent was born with an intellectual disability. At the age of three, he still wasn’t autonomous and depended on his arms to move around. His parents decided to consult a specialist to help him overcome this developmental delay. Vincent began attending a rehabilitation centre for children with disabilities where he received physical therapy. Thanks to this therapy, he took first steps at the age of four.

Today, Vincent can walk on his own. Because of his disability, he still has difficulty speaking, but he understands everything that is said to him. He is therefore well integrated in his village and has many friends of his age to play with.

Personalised support - the key to success

Because of his condition and the resulting lack of autonomy, Vincent was not enrolled in school at an early age. When he finally did attend, he found it hard to keep up with the other children. He was finding learning challenging and was about to repeat the year when he started receiving support from HI.

It is thanks to ASPHATA, an organisation for people with disabilities in Tandjoaré and one of HI’s partners, that Vincent was identified and referred to HI. Our organisation has been supporting him for the last three years. He has received school kits, including a school uniform and supplies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he also received protection kits with liquid soap, hydroalcoholic gel and masks.

But it is the specialised support of an itinerant teacher that has made all the difference. This teacher provides Vincent and his regular class teacher with close support, visiting his classroom and home several times a week to help him learn his lessons and do his homework.

Today, thanks to the pedagogical support of the itinerant teacher, Vincent is making clear progress. He is now in Year 4 and has just one wish: to keep going to school and make progress!

HI's inclusive education project in Togo is supported by the French Development Agency (AFD).