A teacher helping a student at Manuel Duato School

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For people with special needs, life can be extremely challenging. My co-worker Jeff Norton and I both have someone in our lives with special needs. We’ve seen first-hand how they have benefited from the education and programs available to them. Unfortunately, for those living with special needs in countries with minimal, if any, programs for them, life can quickly become almost unbearable. In Peru, the Columban Fathers started the Manuel Duato Special Needs School to serve children with special needs and their families. Your financial and prayerful support of the school makes a profound, positive difference in the lives of those living with special needs and those who care for them. Please donate today.

Crossing Boundaries, Changing Lives in Peru

The Manuel Duato Special Needs School is one of the longest-running Columban programs in Peru, having been established over 34 years ago to serve the most vulnerable of the nation’s economically disadvantaged citizens. Today, over 500 students with developmental disabilities and hearing impairments attend the school, which is located in one of the most impoverished sections of Lima. Here, families crowd together to live in small shanties built into the mountainside—a very difficult place to raise children, especially those with special needs. The school provides a safe learning environment free of charge for the children and a brief respite from 24-hour-a-day care for their parents.

A Special Place for Special Children

In addition to special education, the school provides occupational therapy, giving students a chance to participate in workshops that provide life and job skills for their adult years, such as needlework, woodwork, cooking and general cleaning.

Over the years, Columban benefactors have supported the school’s daily operations as well as many important improvements. In 2004, much-needed repairs to the school’s gymnasium roof and restrooms were completed. In 2005, the school added a new gymnasium and classroom for students with Down syndrome, and it purchased diagnostic hearing equipment and resources to expand educational programs for hearing-impaired children. In 2006, the school enhanced its computer lab with new computers, desks, chairs and electronic learning materials. Today, the financial needs of the Manuel Duato Special Needs School are ongoing, as is the need for the school itself.