Frances has severe low vision however on the football pitch he moves around confidently. © Suzanne Porter / Sightsavers

It's much better here.....

13-year-old Frances Kidenya from Tanzania, has had severe low vision since birth. Because of this he was struggling with his education, so he was transferred to an integrated school where there would be a specialist teacher to help to assist him in his studies.

During his time at school, Frances has learnt to read and write Braille and now learns alongside his sighted class mates. He also boards at the school during term time with 35 other blind and visually impaired students, during which time he has learnt a number of life skills: now he can wash his own clothes and even prepare his own simple meals. Frances has the support of a specialist teacher who also lives at the school and looks after the boarding students.

Frances' best friend is Musa Kiswaga. They have been friends since Frances arrived at the school, and now they do everything together. Musa helps by acting as a guide when necessary, but most the time Frances can find his own way around.

His teacher said: "Frances is very confident in class and asks and answers questions with enthusiasm."

Frances' favourite lesson is maths and in his break time he enjoys running and playing football. He's fearless on the pitch and runs confidently with the ball (which has a bell in it to help him).

Frances says: "It's much better here, there's so much more I can do - I've learnt Braille and I have lots of good friends"

 

 

Achievements

 

In 2010 in Tanzania, we supported our partners to carry out:

• Over 1 million Mectizan® treatments to prevent river blindness
• 83,790 treatments for eye related problems
• 3,522 cataract operations

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Inclusive education

Working with blindness