Hope

May 24th, 2022

The Braille and French classes are going well for our three little students. They are making a lot of progress. The classes continue to be punctuated by songs and recitations, which they are learning with joy!⁠ ⁠Emilie, Hope and Frédéric have received a new learning tool; a peg board. It allows them to learn the combinations of the letters of the alphabet. 

February 15th, 2022

Emerson (who is also our coordinator Anselme’s brother) has joined the Graines d’Espoir team. He is our new Braille teacher and is now teaching Émilie, Hope and Frédéric. During the first class, Emerson introduced them to a Braille writing machine, which they were all eager to try out!

January 27th, 2021

Hope, Frédéric and Émilie now attend French classes every Tuesday and Thursday at the Graines d’Espoir center. All three have been visually impaired since birth and have never attended school. By giving them access to French classes, we aim to support them in their education and allow them to join their classmates Geremie and Emmanuel at the specialized school for visually impaired children in Lomé.

December 17th, 2021

This week, Hope and Emily were scheduled to visit the eye surgeon. Hope had a severe case of malaria, so we treated her urgently and rescheduled their appointment for next week. Hope is already doing much better! ⁠

November 4th, 2021

Hope’s French classes are going very well! This week, Edem taught her short sentences, and they reviewed the alphabet and the numbers from 1 to 15. Hope is now taking French classes at the Graines d’Espoir center, in order to prepare her for school. In fact, we want to give her the possibility to join a specialized school for visually impaired children, in Lomé.⁠

October 22nd, 2021

Our Braille Classes project has evolved a lot in the last few weeks! Emmanuel and Geremie are now both attending a specialized school in Lomé, and they are already making great progress. Hope is still too young to join the school in Lomé, so we organized individual sessions at the center, so that she can continue to learn French, develop her touch, and prepare for her own schooling! ⁠

May 7th, 2021

Classes are going well for Hope. She is currently learning French with her teacher Eli, and is making great progress each week. She will soon start learning Braille again.

April 8th, 2021

Hope came to the center as she was vomiting, had a fever and abdominal pain. The malaria test was positive. We provided the necessary treatment and by the following day she was already doing much better!

March 31st, 2021

Emmanuel, Hope and Geremie had playful classes this week. In addition to the Braille lessons, they explored their environment while learning the French words for everyday objects. This was done with songs, which made it easier to learn. Emmanuel is progressing very quickly. He practices a lot with the Braille slate, writing the letters of the alphabet, which he knows by heart. He is now starting to read sentences in Braille! Geremie is also progressing well, he knows the whole alphabet and is starting to use the Braille slate with the help of his brother. He always makes everyone laugh during the classes. As for Hope, she is having a little more difficulty learning the letters, but she is very motivated and loves learning with her classmates!

We also carried out the monthly food supply for Geremie and Emmanuel’s family. 

February 23rd, 2021

Braille classes are going well! Emmanuel loves learning Braille, and already knows the whole alphabet by heart. He first started using a wooden board with 6 holes, and he is now practicing with a Braille slate. Geremie continues to learn the Braille alphabet and makes good progress every week. He also practices representing objects, animals and other shapes using play dough. As for Hope, she has not yet been able to grasp the tools for learning Braille writing. Eli, our teacher, is currently focusing on games, songs and exercises to teach her the French language.

February 2nd, 2021

We gave Eli the donations we received for the project and introduced them to the children. They were all happy to use these new learning tools.

Hope’s mom attended two sessions to observe Hope’s work and difficulties, which had alerted us during the last classes. We noticed that she struggles to assimilate the Braille learning tools. However, she is doing very well with learning French and is making progress day by day. We have encouraged and congratulated her.

January 22nd, 2021

Hope was suffering this week from fever, headache and a cough. We gave her the necessary treatment and scheduled an appointment for next week to evaluate her recovery.

January 14th, 2021

This week, Hope and Geremie learned to greet each other in French. They have also started learning how to write the letters of the alphabet in Braille. Geremie quickly learned how to write the letters up to “H”. This takes a little longer for Hope, as she had never learned French until now.

Eli uses many tools, including play dough, so they can learn to shape different objects, such as clothes. They are very happy and proud to go to school like all the other children, and they love learning while having fun.

January 8th, 2021

Geremie and Hope had their first Braille sessions this week! They get along very well with their teacher Eli, and were thrilled to start their first classes. A room is reserved for them in our center so that they can work in the best possible conditions.

During the first sessions this week, the children discovered the tools for learning Braille. Eli introduced them to the Braille slates & styluses they will use for reading and writing.

Since Geremie and Hope are still very young (5 and 6 years old), Eli uses a lot of games to facilitate their learning. In order to animate the classes, and offer them activities appropriate to their age, Eli also teaches them songs, which they both have fun learning!