Then there's Saitoti, a tiny, wizened boy who was crippled by measles and polio as a baby. Deprived of human contact, Saitoti was hidden away by his family who were ashamed of him. Today he can neither speak nor walk but thanks to the British charity, Leonard Cheshire he now goes to school. He cries when it's too muddy for him to be carried there. In his notebook he writes over and over again the number of the British charity worker who rescued him. This number is his password to human status.
But despite the work and training of the charity Leonard Cheshire, stigma dies hard. After her training one African head primary school teacher said: “I didn’t want any of those children in my school, but now I see they can learn. However, I still cross myself when they come into my classroom.” " />