Ekisa Ministries International
For the majority of children with disabilities in Uganda, education is inaccessible at worst and inadequate at best. The Ugandan government estimates that 80% of children with intellectual and/or physical disabilities do not attend school. Ekisa Academy, which opened its doors in February 2015, is affiliated with Ekisa Ministries International, an effective NGO registered in Jinja, Uganda, currently in its fifth year of operation.
The SABA grant will allow Ekisa Ministries International to enhance its ABA-related services for 45 children with disabilities currently enrolled at Ekisa Academy, one of the only schools in the nation that provides basic ABA services as well as appropriate, individualized education for children with special needs. In a country where special education services and disability organizations are slowly but surely growing, Ekisa Academy serves as a model organization for future schools and centers. Assisting Ekisa Academy in enhancing its ABA services will catalyze further development of behavior analysis across the nation.
The grant will assist Ekisa in offering ABA more frequently to its 45 students by equipping its two behavior analysts with the necessary practicum materials to provide more effective services, as well as to train its five expatriate teachers and 15 Ugandan teacher assistants in basic principles of teaching as ABA.
The practicum materials, purchased using the grant, include evidence-based reading and math curricula, a variety of reinforcers, materials for implementing evidence-based protocols, and an eye gaze communication device for students who are physically impaired. These will equip Ekisa Academy staff to foster an environment where principles of ABA are embedded into instructional, transitional, and non-instructional times.
Ekisa Academy has the potential to be one of Uganda's leading schools in special education and behavior analysis education.
Back to International Development Grant Recipients
