Akello's first day in the new classroom

When we met Akello in the spring of 2024, she was ten years old and had been walking 14 kilometers every morning to attend the only school for hearing-impaired children in her district. The school was overcrowded — three classes of forty children each shared two rooms. With donor support, we funded a fourth classroom designed with acoustically treated walls and large windows for sign-language visibility. On the first day in the new room, Akello signed to her teacher: 'Now I can see everyone'.