We have some wonderful news about Owen, the boy with Down Syndrome, about whom we told you before. Owen has been locked up in his house for years because his mother was ashamed of him. In Uganda people think you are cursed when you give birth to a handicapped child. These children are often hidden away and left to themselves. Apollo went to Owen’s mother to talk her into allowing Owen to join Joanne’s Library and Reading Club to play and learn to read. From that moment Owen was allowed to join and he went to Joanne’s Library and Reading Club every day. Apollo’s wife Innocent took Owen under her wings and stimulated him to play and taught him to write his name and she also read aloud books for him. Apollo and Innocent have shown the other children who joined Joanne’s Library and Reading Club that children with Down Syndrome are not “crazy” but just nice children. The people in Apollo’s community now understand that children with Down Syndrome shouldn’t be hidden away.
Now Apollo gave us the wonderful news that Owen has been accepted at a school in the neighbourhood! We are grateful to Apollo and Innocent for their efforts to get their community to accept children with a handicap.
