By Kieran Guilbert DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Working quietly in a classroom at a primary school in Dakar, nine-year-old blind boy Abdoulaye sits next to the star pupils, who watch and help him, and alert the teacher if he struggles. “At first there were worries and fears, it was an innovation to have all the children together in one class,” said teacher Mbaye Sow. “But when you see disabled children coming out of their shell, working and playing with others – it is joyful.” Among those singing, dancing and chasing one another around the yard of L’Ecole Malick Diop in Senegal’s capital, blind and visually impaired children walk hand-in-hand with their peers in a country where disabilities are widely considered a curse.
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From curse to catfish: West Africa schools tackle stigma of disability