Little is known about people with disabilities in Côte d’Ivoire.  Therefore, people with disabilities, especially children and young adults with disabilities remain invisible.  The challenges such as lack of access to adequate health care, food, education, shelter, and employment, which prevent people with disabilities from becoming full contributors or partners, are missing in the discussions and formulation of the government’s development programs.  United for the Love of Children – ULOC was created based on personal experience.

Here is a story of a young girl born in Ouangologoudou, a very poor rural area in Côte d’Ivoire. This village lacked a hospital, a maternity center, adequate transportation, telephone lines, and an ambulance for emergency matters.  During labor, her mother was sent to a health care center on a motorcycle because there was no other means of transportation. The health room was ill-equipped to accommodate the difficult circumstances of the mother's delivery.

As a result, at 2 years, the child was still crawling; at 4 years, the child was still crawling. Something was wrong with the child; nobody could diagnose her cerebral palsy. The father who could not stand the fact that his child had a developmental disability abandoned the family. As a result, the mother became overwhelmed with such responsibility and started making plans to get rid of her daughter. Her plans included dropping the daughter in a well, taking her to a sorcerer to have her transformed into a snake, and feeding her poisoned food. Fortunately, the mother could not fulfill her sad dream because the other members of the family never left her alone with the child. The child was 4 years old when her mother passed away accidentally; thus saving the young girl from death.

Although the girl was crippled and deformed, she started her first steps at the age of 7. Unfortunately, she never fully recovered her speech. Nevertheless, her aunt decided to adopt her and provide her with all the assistance she needed, including essential medical attention. With perseverance the child was sent to school because her aunt was proud and determined to integrate the child in society. Initially, the child was denied access to school because of her physical conditions.

In the end, she finally attended schools with other non-disabled children under difficult circumstances. Indeed, her educational experience as a child with disabilities was similar to that of any child with disabilities particularly in Côte d’Ivoire.  She attended a private school because she was denied access to public school for a very simple reason: public schools could not accommodate a child with disabilities.

She was accepted in a private school with several strings attached: (1) the tuition was three times the regular tuition; (2) she had to arrive each day before non-disabled children; (3) she had to sit in the back of the classroom; and (4) she had to leave after all non-disabled children were gone.  Her parents reluctantly accepted these conditions as long as their daughter attended school and socialized with other children.  However, this did not really happen.

In 1991, she moved to the U.S.  First, she attended a private (non-US) school.  The school admitted that it lacked essential competencies and services and could not accommodate her special needs.  Also, she felt unwelcome by children without disabilities.  Consequently, she moved to a public school where she received proper academic attention, at the cost of being socially isolated.  Only one teacher was very supportive of her. She did not have any friends and her life was miserable at school.  Her parents refused the suggestion that she attend a specialized school for children with disabilities.  She moved back to Côte d’Ivoire where she attended several private (faith-based) schools.  The conditions for her admission were similar to those of the previous private school she had attended before they departed from Côte d’Ivoire.  However, at the end of the second year of the first school she attended, the head of the school informed me that:  “We can no longer keep your child in our school as the other children are feeling uncomfortable when she is in the classroom or around them.  Even being in the back of the classroom, she still creates issues for us.  Our children are distracted and cannot learn.  Also we are receiving complaints from their parents.”  She was transferred to another private (faith-based) school.  The admission conditions were exactly the same as those of the previous schools.  Yet, she was isolated because she looked different, and walked and talked a little differently from the other children. Even though she was socially isolated, she is currently pursuing her college degree.