DALAI LAMA XIV said: “It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.” Indeed this can be said of every teacher who is called moulders of the nation, but for a teacher who dedicates his/her entire life to the development of someone who is differently-abled, there is no better way to put it. It takes strength, patience, love and stamina to be the eyes for those who cannot see and to teach them to survive in a world where the differently abled are often discriminated.

At the visually impaired unit in Linden, there are four teachers who have not only made this their jobs, to basically teach but has dedicated their entire lives to the nurturing, mentoring, counselling, comforting, and the list can go on, to the 30 students that are presently in their care and the scores who have moved on but still cling to them for support and love.
Teacher Shellon Swaving heads the unit and has selflessly served in the capacity of a special needs teacher for the past nine years though she spent 21years prior in regular teaching. She is assisted by teacher Jenelle Williams who joined her in 2013.

Teaching at the unit is also assistant teacher Teshawn Rodney and music and blind cricket teacher Amin Britton who are also both visually impaired. The team collaboratively mans the unit located at the Wismar Hill Primary School but is required to visit every nursery, primary and secondary school in Linden to attend to the visually impaired students who attend. This task which can be physically and mentally fatiguing does not deter the teachers from making their trips every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Teacher Shellon and Jenelle both received special needs training at various organizations but expresses the challenge of having to teach students at all the levels though they may only have received training for the primary level. “It becomes even more difficult to prepare the students when they are to sit the Caribbean Secondary Education Council (CSEC) and because all of the children are academically inclined, the teachers put their best foot forward in collaborating with the subject teachers at the secondary schools to give the child at least that opportunity to get a passing grade. One way to conquer this according to Swaving is early intervention and this allows them to monitor the children from babies after gaining cognisance that they are visually challenged. “We try as soon as possible to get hold of them so when they come into the system we would be better able to monitor them if not it would be more difficult,” Swaving explained.

Testimonies
The teachers boasted of students who wrote the Grade Six Assessment Examination being awarded places at St. Roses High and Mackenzie High and while the others may not have achieved such high ranking schools, to the teachers they have mastered excellent comprehensive skills.

In addition to the academic performances, the children are also taught life skills though the facilities in this regard are not available and emphasis is placed on extracurricular activities. “We teach them a little music, we have the blind cricket we have Paralympic sports that they compete in and are successful and win medals, we are always out and in front trying to get things for them. We had children who travelled abroad to play the blind cricket and we feel good about that.”

It hurts to see that when the children go off to secondary school, they start to experience several challenges. The children are now thrown into a normal environment and they are often victims of neglect, discrimination and bullying which take a toll on their self-esteem. “These children they have self-esteem problems so we are asking for a counsellor, it is a real problem, as the children get older, it gets worse.” The teachers related that the children at times request not to be visited by the special needs teachers because they do not want to be identified as someone who is visually impaired. This results in many children dropping out of school so as to avoid these challenges.

Recommendations
The teachers highlighted several recommendations to make the lives of the children and accessing them easier. Transportation was placed to the forefront and while they expressed appreciation to the Regional Executive Officer Ms Marcia Paddy and the Department of Education in Linden for their support in this regard, there is still more to be done and the teachers find it difficult to attend these schools three days a week.

They are also calling for an entire building that should be located in proximity to a nursery, primary and secondary school so the children will be integrated into the school but supported by the special need teachers. They are also calling for CSEC to be accessible to the students in Linden as those desirous of sitting the exams have to travel to Georgetown daily to attend classes.

There is need also for a closer link between the education department and the medical department so that the children’s medical needs would be met more effectively. The teachers call for the schools and sporting facilities to be more disability friendly as the children’s movement are limited because of this.

Despite these various challenges, the teachers are determined to continue being of selfless service to the students so that they can fulfill their dreams. Teacher Shellon was motivated to become a special needs teacher when her sister got blind after doing a surgery. Seeing the struggles of her sister, she was inclined to eliminate similar struggles from others.

“I just don’t want anybody to come out of school and that is the end of their life. I want to know that the children, when they get into society they must be able to adapt and have capable life skills and not to depend on any one,” Shellon said. Similar sentiments were expressed by teacher Jenelle Williams who says that she is enjoying it but sometimes feels frustrated at the continuous rhetoric that are not being materialised. “When you are asking for funds and support you are not getting it so I become very frustrated because you are not stagnant we want to teach them life skills and we don’t even have a kitchen.”

Amin who teaches music and the blind cricket says that he feels good knowing that he is bringing change to their lives socially. Teshawn who was a past student of the unit assists with teaching brail and JAWS (visually impaired computer software) said that he was motivated to return to the unit to give his services. “I went through a lot with a disability growing up so I wanted to help children just like myself,” he said. The teachers are calling for more teachers to come on board as there is a staffing shortage at the unit but reiterate that they have to cultivate love and patience since being a special needs teacher is a 24 hr job.