World Autism Awareness Day
By supporting the ongoing care of autistic children at the CongAutism Center in DRC, the Onatti Foundation is striving to bring hope to children in DRC struggling with autism.
In many African countries, a child with autism is associated with evil. Often, the mother is accused of having done something wrong which has led to her being punished bearing a child with these needs. This punishment usually results in the child being hidden away in a home without socio-emotional programs available for the child’s well-being or educational programs geared to help parents learn how to deal with autism and the financial burden associated with this situation.
Our project aims to help these families in two ways:
Provide financial assistance for the child with autism to spend time in a specialized autism center, where they receive sensory and physical therapy, education, and coping skills.
Provide financial assistance to parents to learn a trade or serve as seed money to start a business such as reselling wholesale products in local markets.
How will it be done?
In the first phase, 30 families with autistic children receiving free short-term care at CongAustime were identified as potential beneficiaries of the funds raised through this project, with the goal of providing each family with $500 through long-term loans. Throughout the extended repayment period, the families repay the money into a community fund that will be reused for other families with autistic children and will support the growth of the CongAutism Center.
How can you help?
Our goal, through our 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, is to fund as much of this program as possible by April 2, 2023, World Autism Awareness Day.
