When you look into the face of a child who is developmentally delayed or one with a specific learning and/or communication issue, it's hard to know their pain. Often times, a child like this is mocked and ridiculed. Unable to attend school. Unlikely to have friends. In the developed world, such children are generally better understood, accepted and cared for than those born in the developing parts of the glob, many of whom are condemned to suffering. The primary source of ordeal for people with disabilities is lack of awareness of disability issues in societies. In this case, ignorance most certainly is not bliss!

In Ethiopia, for example, there is almost no center providing help and support to individuals with learning difficulties. There is speech and language therapy clinic in a country with a population size of more than 100 million. Countless children are locked up in their homes because they are either developmentally delayed or show signs of autistic spectrum disorder. Others, even those with adequate intelligence, maybe forced to leave school because they demonstrate a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia (reading disability) or some sort of communication issue such as stuttering. An enormous number of children have their cleft palate surgically repaired; but do not receive speech therapy following cleft repair. As a result, for many of them, producing clear and understandable speech remains to be a challenge—a challenge they are not sure if they could ever have a solution for.

Everyday life is extremely unbearable to these children—primarily because of lack of awareness among school teachers/administrators, policy makers, parents and the community at large. There have been efforts made by the government to improve the conditions of such children.

However, it has become evident, over the years, that the large-scaled and complex challenges faced by these children cannot be addressed the government alone. Hence, rather than sitting back and wait until the government is able to fully address the problem, in 2012, a group of academics and practitioners decided to do their fair share to help these children live a better life and achieve their potentials. That's how FANA-Ethiopia was realised. Since our establishment, many thanks to the generous grants from the Oak Foundation, ChildHope, UK, other local and international partners, we have been able to make a huge difference in the lives of thousands of children, teenagers and adults with various disabilities.

It is so wonderful to witness how something as simple as a couple of hours of awareness-raising trainings can change the lives of many children who have been misunderstood and tormented, through no fault of their own! Advising and training a parent takes as little as a couple of sessions, but, in only few hours, a child’s life is transformed! Our mission is to make sure that someday, every child with learning and/or communication difficulty is well understood, supported and their hopes and dreams restored.

We appreciate partnerships geared towards this noble goal—a goal to rescue a child from a life of pain; and open up a world of opportunities. This requires going to further places in Ethiopia and reaching out to more children. It requires training many more in-service and pre-service teachers, parents and communities. It requires training many professionals who will be able to provide help and support to children having all sorts of learning and communication needs. It requires sharper advocacy for these people so that they receive better legal and institutional recognition and supports. It requires comprehensive networking and synergy with and among stakeholders towards achieving making the world a better place, for individuals with disability!

Our core belief is that all children deserve to learn the way they learn best, and with access to better support and resources; that children with learning and communication difficulties deserve the support they need to transform their own lives and contribute to nation building.