An Inclusive Education for Sammy

ECW commemorates International Day of Persons with Disabilities with an inspiring story from a Venezuelan refugee girl living with a disability in Colombia

Por Education Cannot Wait

03 de December de 2022

Worldwide, there are nearly 240 million children with disabilities. A range of barriers limit their ability to function in daily life and access social services like education. And for the 222 million children and adolescents affected by armed conflict, natural disasters and other humanitarian emergencies, it’s even worse.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, strives to guarantee access to education and a meaningful learning experience for crisis-affected girls and boys with disabilities around the world.

This International Day of Persons with Disabilities, ECW highlights the story of Sammy, a young Venezuelan refugee girl living with a disability in Colombia whose hope for an education is still alive.

A DREAMER

Ten-year-old Sammy from Venezuela wakes up every morning asking if she is going to the ECW-funded Child Friendly Spaces in her neighborhood in La Guajira, Colombia.

She wears her hair in two braids and a polkadot dress. You can see the corner of her eyes perk up as she smiles behind her facemask as she enters the classroom. Sammy is eager to learn. She is the first one to arrive at Save the Children Colombia’s Child Friendly Spaces every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning.

Sammy has always been a dreamer and a fighter.

Despite facing adversity throughout her life, she has never given up. When she was only two years old, her family found out she couldn’t walk. Ever since then, she has spent her life trying to work around her disability.

During Sammy’s long, arduous journey to Colombia with her family, they lost the medical papers indicating that her psychomotor skills were impaired. The loss of these documents posed a barrier for Sammy’s access to quality education. School administrators told her mother that Sammy needed to attend an institution that would focus on meeting her needs and provide her with special education. Without these documents, they said, Sammy couldn’t attend school.

A Save the Children worker helps Sammy in the classroom. Photo © Save the Children Colombia/María Hernández

HOPE RESTORED

But now, through an ECW-funded programme implemented by Save the Children Colombia, Sammy is back to a safe learning environment. She is attending the Child Friendly Spaces, which provides her with classes that boost basic literacy, numeracy and social emotional skills.

“It has been incredible to see Sammy’s significant learning gains with these classes. She has shown us that when you have dreams you can make them a reality. She has every desire to learn and have a life like any other girl her age would,” Sammy’s mother says.

Education Cannot Wait’s programme offers classes to every child in the community. These classes don’t have restrictions on access, so Sammy now attends regularly.

Since its inception, ECW has reached over 57,000 children — including over 22,000 refugees and 468 children with disabilities — in Colombia. The Fund has supported children with early childhood, primary and secondary education. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, alternative education approaches such as remote learning, remedial education and psychosocial support have been prioritized to ensure the continuity of education.

Sammy and her older brother attend the Child Friendly Spaces together. They learn and play with their friends.

At the end of the school day, she is swept off her feet as her brother carefully wraps his arms around her tiny body and carries her back home. It is one of their favorite moments of the day.

ECW’S COMMITMENT TO DISABILITY INCLUSION

The challenges Sammy has faced haven’t kept her from singing, playing and smiling every day. She hasn’t lost hope. She is smart and resilient. Above all, she is a dreamer.

Sammy dreams of one day becoming a doctor or a chef.

This International Day of Persons with Disabilities and every day, ECW raises awareness about disability inclusion by making commitments to reach and include children with disabilities in education in emergencies and protracted crises.

On 16-17 February 2023, ECW’s High-Level Financing Conference will take place in Geneva. World leaders will have a chance to make life-changing commitments to reach the world’s most vulnerable children — including children with disabilities — with the hope that only an education can provide. Together, we can make the #222MillionDreams✨📚 of crisis-affected children and adolescents like Sammy come true.

Sammy smiles under her face mask. Photo © Save the Children Colombia/María Hernández

Button Label