In Chad, as in many African countries, there is no systemic support for people with disabilities. The exclusion of disabled Chadians extends not only to healthcare, but also to education and other areas of life. A child born with any kind of disability is often seen, according to traditional beliefs, as a punishment for the parents or the result of a curse. As a result, families are ashamed of children with disabilities, and these children often fall victim to violence or social ostracism.

The Catholic Church is working to change this by creating places of support for such individuals. The Talitha Kum Center for children with physical and intellectual disabilities has been operating in the Diocese of Lai for 20 years. It provides permanent housing for 30 to 40 children aged 7 to 18, who receive food, education, and medical treatment. 

Thanks to the existence of the Talitha Kum Center, many children each year are able to adapt to everyday life despite their disabilities. And that is something truly wonderful - something that moves you to tears. When you take in a child who walks on all fours or crawls on the ground because both legs are non-functional... And after surgery and several years of rehabilitation at the center, that same child stands up again or learns to move with crutches thanks to prosthetics - it's a moment of incredible joy and emotion!

- says Father Jacob Szałek, a missionary in Chad.

The Talitha Kum Center ensures that children have a chance to function relatively independently after leaving the facility. Therefore, in addition to rehabilitation, it also provides education and vocational training. Girls attend tailoring classes, while boys receive carpentry lessons. Only here do the children with disabilities also learn to read and write, because previously - due to social exclusion - they did not have this opportunity. Since there is no social insurance system in Chad, all the funds needed for the center's operation must be raised by missionaries.

"We ask parents to symbolically contribute to their child's stay at the center by paying 30 euros and donating one bag of sorghum per year. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford it. In fact, only a few are able to fulfill this commitment. Therefore, I earnestly ask you to help subsidize the meals for our young patients at Talitha Kum. With your regular support, we won’t have to worry about running out of money to buy food for the children - children who have already suffered so much because of their disabilities," stresses Father Jacob.

As part of this project, we will also support students from the parish school in Lai, located within Father Jacob's parish. A school in Chad and a school in Poland are two completely different realities. In Chad, most schools are simple shacks made of woven grass walls supported by wooden stakes. The teacher’s only educational tools are a large blackboard and some chalk. Students sometimes have small chalkboards - a basic substitute for notebooks - and often just one pen is shared among several children. The primary method of teaching is memorization, and the school year lasts only five months, corresponding to the dry season. Many children who graduate from public elementary schools still cannot read or write. These are just some of the reasons why the illiteracy rate in the country remains as high as 75%.

As Father James points out: "In Chad, if there is no support from other countries, a school, church, or health clinic simply won’t be built — because such funds cannot be raised locally. People live in deep poverty. What we earn in Poland in one day is, for some here, a salary for two weeks or even an entire month. The average salary of a village teacher is just 60 euros. That’s why any help is so important!"

Give the children of Chad a chance for a dignified life and a better future!

For more about the "Children's nutrition and education in Chad" project, see articles:

• A thank-you letter from the Talitha Kum Center in Chad

PROJECT SUMMARY

We’re wrapping up the project, but we’re not stopping our support… Our mission is to show Donors how their contributions are changing the world. In the case of the project supporting the Talitha Kum center for people with disabilities in Lai, this was difficult. The missionary, Father Jakub Szałek, holds many roles: he is the parish priest and the bishop’s vicar (that is, in a sense, the “bishop’s deputy”), a builder of deep wells, and the supervisor of the parish school and health clinic. The sheer volume of his various responsibilities prevents him from regularly visiting the center and keeping us updated on the results of our aid. Therefore, we have decided to officially conclude this project. However, we will continue to help disabled children and youth from Talitha Kum. First, we will allocate the remaining funds collected under the “Nutrition and Education for Children in Chad” project, and in the future, we will also draw on funds from the “Mission Offering Where It Is Most Needed” fund.

Between 2023 and 2025, we contributed a total of 179,571 PLN to this project.