World Autism Day is one of the seven official health-specific United Nations holidays. It was designed to encourage member states to educate and raise awareness about autistic individuals in the whole world. Thus, it is a holiday celebrated on the second day of April annually. To mark this special day, the Autism and Special Needs Foundation paid a visit to the J Sants Special School, a school and shelter for children with autism and special needs in Adjeikojo, Accra.
Upon arrival, the AUSNEF team was introduced to the residents of the school alongside Joyce Santos, the founder. To engage the children in celebrating the day, the AUSNEF team engaged the children in coloring some sheets with themes for autism awareness. They engaged well with the activity and interacted well with the AUSNEF team. Every piece was an artwork and everyone was proud of their work and proudly raised their sheets showing off their capabilities.
Then there was a time for music and dance to loosen everyone up. Without hesitation, the children took to the dance floor to break it down along with their caretakers, and those who couldn’t, moved in their seats. You could feel the joy radiating from their bodies with their arms swinging to the rhythm of Afro beats. After sweating it out, a lunch sponsored by AUSNEF was served and everyone ate to their fill with others going for seconds.
Madame Joyce gave a brief history of how she started her shelter. She recounted how she used to work with a special school and shelter twenty years ago and from her experience, set up her shelter. She has about twenty-five students; some being day students and some residents. She relies on donations to keep going and shares her love and commitment to what she does.
As part of the event, AUSNEF made a cash donation, some food items, toiletries, and drinks to the shelter. AUSNEF motivated and encouraged the founder to carry on and pledged their continuous support to the shelter.
AUSNEF wishes to thank our sponsors (Kasapreko PLC, O.U.R. Ghana, Aburi Girls’ Old Girls’ Association 1985, and Winneba Old Students Association 1987) for making this day a reality and touching the lives of those in the autism and special needs community.
AUSNEF relies on sponsorships in our commitment to support the autism and special needs community. To support the continuation of AUSNEF’s work, please call us on 0596063631, email us at ausnefoundation@gmail.com, or visit our social media pages.
