A non-governmental organization in Enugu, the Cope and Live Mental Health Awareness Foundation (CALMHAF), has trained 15 students with hearing and speech impairments on using art to express their thoughts and emotions.
The training took place at the Special Education Centre, Ogbete, Enugu, a school dedicated to children with hearing and speech impairments.
Speaking at the end of the session on Tuesday, CALMHAF Executive Director, Rev. Chukwudiebube Nwachukwu, said the programme was designed to help the students achieve more effective communication.
Nwachukwu described the exercise as part of the foundation’s year-long mental health and empowerment intervention at the centre.
He said the training, themed “Expressing Me Without Words,” was developed to support students who face significant communication barriers in a predominantly verbal world.
“Art becomes a powerful, non-verbal language of healing and self-discovery for these special students,” he said.
Nwachukwu, a certified mental health practitioner, explained that using vibrant paints, canvas boards, brushes and other materials, each child created artwork that reflected their emotions, dreams and inner world.
“At the end of the session, every student proudly took home their painting — a tangible reminder of their creativity and worth,” he added.
He noted that art therapy is globally recognized as a mental health intervention that helps individuals express thoughts and feelings that are difficult to communicate verbally.
He referenced international authorities such as the World Health Organization, the American Art Therapy Association and UNICEF, which have confirmed the effectiveness of art therapy for people with communication difficulties or disabilities.
During the session, the students used color and imagery to communicate joy, pain, ambition and hope. Many depicted scenes of their future aspirations, including tailoring shops, classrooms where they teach, football fields where they play professionally, and happy homes.
Nwachukwu said several students who appeared withdrawn at the start of the programme later became visibly excited, proudly showing their work to teachers and classmates.
Teachers and the school leadership were deeply moved.
“One teacher said, ‘We have never seen some of these children so alive and confident. They did not know they carried such big dreams inside,’” he recounted.
Co-founder of CALMHAF and child psychologist, Mrs. Uzoamaka Nwachukwu, said the team witnessed “silence turned into color, pain transformed into beauty, and invisible children becoming boldly visible.”
“This is why our foundation has committed a full year — and beyond — to this school. Every stroke of the brush reminded these students that they have a voice, even when the world cannot hear it,” she said.
Responding, the Head of the School, Mrs. Virginia Eze, expressed gratitude to the foundation and appealed for art therapy to be incorporated into the school’s regular calendar.
The foundation reiterated its commitment to supporting the students and staff of the centre to ensure that no child, regardless of disability, is left unseen, unheard or without hope.
