Two marathons, two days. The Iceland Challenge follows the Laugavegurinn Trail in a 52-mile trek across volcanos, ice caps, black deserts and glacial lagoons. I am taking on the challenge to raise money for Yellow House Health & Outreach Centre, who support children with learning disabilities in Western Kenya.

Despite Kenya's significant progress in achieving Universal Primary Education, children with ‘hidden’ learning disabilities continue to be denied access to quality education due to the stigma attached to having a disability and the lack of specialists available to support their needs.

The lack of opportunity for children with learning disabilities to reach their educational potential is something I can personally relate to. I have Asperger's Syndrome and never got on with mainstream education, leaving school with just one GCSE. Now four years later, I have a funded placement at a specialist college for students with AS, where I am halfway through my A Levels. Though I am still overcoming some challenges, the support on offer has helped me immensely. I have weekly counselling, occupational and communication therapy, individualised classroom provision and independence training implemented through round-the-clock residential support. In this country we are lucky to have SEN accommodated (albeit underfunded), but Kenyan children do not have such privileges. By fundraising for Yellow House, we can help achieve equality of opportunity for children who cannot speak up for themselves.

Yellow House works to enrich educational development for children with learning disabilities through speech and language therapy, parent-child interaction training, classroom support and behaviour management. They also promote increased awareness and understanding through an outreach programme which aims to educate teachers and health professionals about SEN.
To find out more about the crucial work carried out by YH visit their website: http://www.yellowhousechildrens.org/