Niger - Ibrahim's story
Niger - Ibrahim's story
Determined to learn
When Ibrahim was three years old, polio paralysed his right leg. At first his parents, like many other parents of disabled children in Niger, did not want to send him to school. They were worried he would be teased by his classmates, and were not convinced that an education would help him.
Polio is a viral disease that causes paralysis (loss of the ability to move) in the arms and legs. It affects between 10 and 20 million people around the world today. Though there is no cure, there is a vaccine which can stop you from being infected in the first place.
Despite his disability, and his parents' doubts, Ibrahim was determined to go to school. "When I was eight," Ibrahim says, "other kids my age were going to school while I stayed at home. I did not like that. So, I pestered my parents until they finally let me go to school."
Ibrahim's parents enrolled him in a private school nearby. But although the journey to and from school was a short one, it still wasn't easy for Ibrahim. He had to use his hands to help him move along, protecting them with plastic slippers. But at least he was getting an education.
However, after only a year in school, Ibrahim's education was interrupted when his parents separated. His mother did not have the means to pay for his tuition.
In 2001, Ibrahim received a grant to be fitted with a leg brace, corrective shoes and his first pair of crutches. His first priority was to find a way to go back to school.
"I wanted to start school again last October," Ibrahim says. "When my mother told me she could not afford it I went to visit the homes of some of my relatives and collected 5,000 francs CFA (US $8) - enough to pay my tuition for half a year. The school has given me a deadline to pay the other half. I will find the rest of the money somehow."
Ibrahim attends a school in which he is the only disabled student. According to his teacher, he is among the top five students in a class of 55.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child states that it is every child's right to get an education, and that children with disabilities should have equal access to schools and facilities, no matter how seriously disabled they are. Article 28 of the Convention also states that primary education should be free for all, and so no child should be prevented from getting an education because she or he cannot afford the cost of going to school.