Ali Sabieh is the second largest city in Djibouti, with a population of approximately 50,000 people, the majority being Somali tribe. The Consolata Missionary Sisters arrived at Ali-Sabieh mission in 2009. While visiting families they discovered that there were many physically and mentally disabled persons, mainly as a result of cultural practices for example consanguine marriages and practices that cause difficult childbirth, leading to neonatal brain injuries. Some of these children are neglected, and some are even chained to avoid bringing shame to the family.

Brief History of the School

The presence of a significant number of unattended children with disabilities led the Sisters to initiate an informal and inclusive school – École pour tous, (School for All) in October 2013, tailoring a special education program for them while the name is meant to help everyone feel welcome. The school welcomes children between 6 to 14 years of age with disabilities such as motor, learning, language, and socialization disorders.

Key Activities

Being a new reality, it was not easy at the beginning. The biggest challenge was convincing parents to enrol disabled children in school. A few mothers decided to try but did so secretly. With time, however, other parents realized that the program was helpful, so they gradually brought their children too. Sr. Anna Bacchion, the Sister responsible for the program had had a bit of preparation in accompanying children with disabilities. Hence, she immediately recruited some teachers willing to help her in the school for the disabled. Patience and love from the side of the Sisters and the teachers were called for.

One of the challenges is the requirement of special learning materials to adapt to the program of special needs children. They require many teachers and a lot of creativity to enable them to give personalized attention to all the children. Thanks to the contribution of the Catholic Church in Djibouti, UNICEF, and benefactors of Consolata Missionary Sisters, there has been good progress. Sr. Anna, in collaboration with Sr. Michela Carrozzino, a Guanellian Religious and president of the Association Méditerranée sans handicap, has put a lot of effort into the formation of teachers. This year 2025, 19 children are attending the classes.  

The results have been very gradual but visible. Eventually, public awareness has aroused curiosity in society and interest at the government level. Five years after the Sisters initiated the program, the government of Djibouti recognized their work thus nominating the little school as a model nationally for other schools for special needs.

 

The Major Changes

The program in the school is geared towards helping the children develop whatever potentials they have – learning to talk, read, count, listen, comprehend, and follow indications given to them, and above all, being able to interact healthily with others. Receiving small assignments and being able to carry them out is always a big sign of growing autonomy.

The lives of families and children with special needs are changing. Families give more value to their children. The parents no longer feel the need to hide their children in the houses or chain them as they used to. They have gained the courage to accept the conditions of their children. There is growing trust from the families and the society at large towards the Sisters and the Church. They are not afraid of entrusting their children to the Sisters.

The change of attitude is also found in the children after experiencing love and acceptance. Thanks to the methodology used by the teachers, with practice and patience, those with language problems learn to communicate and relate with others. If a child needs medical assistance the parents are advised accordingly.

The teachers who collaborate with Sr. Ann in this program, all of them Muslims have become the main advocates for the children born with disabilities by going to the villages in search of them and advising the families to register them for the program. With effective methods, a lot of patience, and love, some of these vulnerable pupils can progress in all areas of life. Each year, after a prolonged time of personalized accompaniment in the École Pour Tous, some of them are enrolled in the normal school and continue to study together with the other children. This however depends on the severity of the disability of each child. Today, of the first pupils enrolled in 2013 in École pour Tous, two of them are in secondary school. The evolution is very slow but it is possible.

Most of these children are undocumented because they are born at home. When they are registered in the school, thanks to the collaboration of the local leaders they also are registered and granted a document, thus recognizing them as citizens, something that was not possible before.

Contribution to Systemic Change

This program has first of all helped raise awareness of the situation not only in Ali- Sabieh but in the whole country, thanks to the collaboration of the families, teachers, and all the stakeholders. Other such schools are coming up in other parts of the country.

Both the Sisters and the local authorities have come to value the importance of collaboration with other sectors of society, for example at the office of registration of births. All the children attending the École pour Tous are registered and given an Identity document which is a big achievement.

The education program involves also the community: the family members are trained on how to continue accompanying their children at home, especially during the holidays. They are taught how to carry out simple activities with the children and how to help them carry out small assignments at home. This has helped our children very much because there is a continuity that brings transformation with time. When the parents see a change in their children, they are very happy, proud, and full of hope because they too have been part of the journey.

The government is less passive regarding the high number of people with disabilities and is encouraging prevention, for example, insisting that mothers seek medical help in the time of childbirth. There is still a lot though, that the civil leaders can do in prevention and taking care of those affected.

The Catholic Mission is able to carry out other activities thanks to the trust people have for the Sisters. Apart from the École per Tous, the Sisters also run an informal School (École LEC), where they teach children who are past early school age, yet have not had an opportunity to attend a normal school because they do not have national identity documents. Some of these youth eventually are assisted to acquire Identity documents and can join a normal school. The young girls who often get married very young, consider themselves too old to join a primary school so after completing their time in LEC, they take courses in tailoring and dressmaking, also run by the Sisters, after which they can begin income-generating activities. Some of the current collaborators in offering the dressmaking course are alumni of the same school.

Conclusion

The Sisters’ desire to reduce the number of children born with disabilities. However, the underlying cultural practices are a hindrance. While they are committed to educating the families on how to take care of the children, they also insist on educating the young girls and not marrying them off while still very young and the importance of going to the hospital for childbirth to avoid complications, especially for first-time mothers. They also discourage young ladies from getting married to close relatives even though normally the girl t does not choose who to marry.

Most of the children that attend École pour Tous come from very poor families, however, there is more collaboration between the families. They do not feel anymore the need to hide or tie down the children inside the tukul (their small makeshift huts). From this experience, the Sisters are convinced that there is nothing impossible where there is love and will. They have brought joy to the families and hope. When the parents see the process of change in their child it gives them hope.

Ali-Sabieh, like the rest of the country, is 99% Muslim. The Sisters cannot talk openly about Christ. They believe however in being the “perfume of Christ” through social activities. They may not be able to change the underlying cultural factors leading to the problems, but they can restore hope to many who are affected.

Sr Anna Bacchion MC