Featured Artist: Kamapala School
We are featuring the Kampala School for the Physically Handicapped in Uganda, Africa, as our featured Artists. SeaWatch Fabrics is proud to be able to offer African fabrics from this school. We also provide contributions of our cotton fabrics and battings to assist the support of the school and its students.
Overview of the School
Kampala School for the Physically Handicapped is a primary school catering for the educational needs of the disabled children in Uganda. It is a boarding school located on Balintuma Road in Mengo. The school follows the national syllabus including co-curricular activities like sports, music, dance and drama. Basic Vocational subjects are also offered to all children and specialization for those not able to continue with further education.
The Children
- The school has an enrolment of 90 pupils between the ages of 7 and 18. Physical disabilities include cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, and polio, amongst others.
- In essence the school provides for children with special needs. Before joining, children are first assessed to establish their disabilities and abilities for proper placement. This assessment is done at the Child Development Centre at Mulago Hospital.
- In addition to the regular primary school syllabus, the children have the opportunity to get skills training like tailoring, screen printing, cookery, crafts, tie & dye, batiking, knitting, quilting, and poultry keeping. Many old students have graduated the special vocational class and set up their small enterprises. Recently computer training has also been introduced.
- Other activities to which the children are exposed include sports, spiritual fellowship and educational tours. Thus the children get to lead as normal a life as possible in spite of their various disabilities.
Batiks: African Style
This technique produces a unique batik look that is distinctively different than those of Indonesia or Bali.
The dye is applied and left to dry in the African sun.
The fabric is then rinsed several times to remove the corn meal resist.