Author: Dare Daniels

What We Do

Pitanga Resource and Learning Centre specialise in meeting the needs of children between the ages of 3-18+ (cognitive ability years) with a range of learning difficulties and disabilities such as, Dyslexia, Autism, Downes Syndrome, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder), social, emotional, behaviour and communication difficulties.

• Day time & After-school teaching;
• Homework learning sessions;
• Workshops/Seminars – The Centre gives be-spoke workshops and seminars to schools/institutions and has hosted sponsored workshops at the Centre;
• A Family Centre to support parents in need of identifying and reviewing the learning difficulty/disability and/or any other Social, Emotional, Challenging Behavioural concerns of their children.

 

Workshops and Seminars

In the past 9 years the Pitanga Resource and Learning Centre has hosted private and public seminars and workshops in and around Luanda, Angola as well as hosting a couple of mini training sessions in Lagos, Nigeria. In Angola, the sessions have varied from daily family sessions to a 16-week long training workshop hosted by The Ministry of Education geared towards a selected group of Directors from the Ministry, Pedagogists, Head teachers and teachers from various schools in Luanda and provinces around Angola. Its main objective being to gain strategic skills and techniques required in implementing inclusive school-wide environments. Other workshops were especially geared towards training teachers, parents and caregivers in gaining a better understanding as to how best to support children and young adults in schools as well as in their living environments with adequate social, emotional and physical support, irrespective of their learning difficulties or disabilities.

At Pitanga Centre, all our workshops and seminars are especially hands-on interactive sessions that focus on imparting simple, practical and applicable skills to educators and carers, irrespective of their background or training and geared to foster a supportive learning environment for ‘individual’ children and young adults with special educational needs.

Sessions are always unique, engaging, highly interactive and immersive; challenging participants to put themselves in the shoes of a child (their child) with learning difficulties/disabilities (LDD)and in so doing, allow themselves the opportunity to try out and share different methods, strategies, resources and skills during the workshop. Participants are taught skills to differentiate lesson plans, to develop specialized and individualised lesson plans with adapted activities that will enable children with LDD slowly begin to overcome barriers to learning and social emotional development.

In 2016, Pitanga Centre Nigeria was launched with an interactive seminar aimed at giving participants first-hand insight into recognising and understanding special educational needs.  We are always excited to bring our passion and enthusiasm to spread awareness and understanding and impart valuable skills to schools, organisations and families around Nigeria and especially aim at training teachers and carers in understanding the importance of using correct strategies and tools in enriching the lives of children with LDD and other special needs.

At the Pitanga Centre, we are guided by the moto that children are like flowers and need different conditions to grow. Like the Pitanga, the Surinam cherry, children with special education needs can develop a range of tastes, they may bloom or wilt, depending on the type of soil and the amount o sunlight they get. With access to inclusive and individualised education and support, children with special needs can bloom and show their full potential. Which is why we are so passionate about helping all involved in the child-rearing process to know how to provide the right soil and use the right tools to allow every child to grow and blossom.

 

Our free consultation held between the 15^th – 17^th of March, 2018.  It was phenomenal and educational – our phone lines were busy due to phone calls coming in for enquiries and appointments.

The programme came about as a result of enquires from the huge number of families with children living with disabilities that cannot afford services to help their children live more fulfilling lives. Consequently, people approach our Centre daily for help. We concluded that the best way to help is to give the parents skills that they can use in the home environment to support their child. The next step was to get the families together.

We then went on radio station, and social media as part of our efforts to bring this laudable programme to all and sundry.

Expectedly, people turned up in droves, as they began to arrive as early as 7am for a program billed for 9am.  They came from places as far as Ibadan, Jos, Abeokuta as well as the inclusive schools.  The response was overwhelming.

Staff were on ground to get the venue ready, and to receive the participants who were already too eager to be attended to.  Consultants and volunteers also came in one after the other and started work immediately.

Notably, consultants came from far and near such as Port Harcourt and other parts of Lagos to lend their support to this laudable programme.

The first port of call was the registration stand, where we had as many as eight to ten staff in charge of registration.  Then the participants and their children began the day with the staff asking preliminary questions about their children to know which one of the consultants they needed to see.  These ranged from: Occupational Therapist, Speech Therapist, Behavioural, Counseling, Pediatrician, Educational Diagnostics, Audiologist, Nutritionist, Physiotherapist, Psychologist, and last but not the least Psychiatrist.

On the first day there was a large crowd of about 56 people, and more were turned back at the gate due to time constraints, that is, there would not have been enough time to see them one on one, since they came late.  They were told to come back the following day.

Days two and three were equally crowded from statistics.  However, some people could not wait to see the therapists because the day was far spent. A total of 106 persons were seen by therapists during the 3-day outreach program.

Those present were separated into groups: Down Syndrome, Autism and Cerebral Palsy, hearing impairment and speech-related problems, and medical issues which ranged from issues with sight, hearing, mobility, sensory – all combined in a child; also seizures and mental retardation.

On the whole, 32 cases of Autism were treated, 31 cases of Cerebral Palsy were also dealt with, while 7 of Down Syndrome cases were seen.  However, those with hearing impairment numbered 8, and there were 6 medical cases.  Those with nutritional needs were told the kinds of foods to eat and what to avoid, while the Psychologist worked on the importance of their roles as parents, and how to handle their children with disabilities.

As a follow up, they will be added to a whatsapp group so as to enable us follow the progress of their children as well as inform them of what will further help them to acquire more skills on caring for their loved ones living with disabilities.  Also, there will be quarterly workshops organized for parents of individuals living with Autism so as to keep them in tune with on –going trends in the field.

Apart from the free advice/consultation from the consultants, the crowd was treated to sumptuous snacks, for which they were grateful.  A lot of them acknowledged the fact that it was a laudable event and would love to have a repeat.