By Brianna Tyler | Administrative and Communications Assistant
Since 1985, the Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children (HRDC) in Nepal has been reversing the plight of poor children with physical disabilities, making comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation accessible and affordable. With AHF’s support, HRDC has since grown into one of the largest pediatric orthopedic hospitals and rehabilitation centers in Nepal.
What sets HRDC apart is how they embrace the whole child, addressing their full spectrum of medical, therapeutic and social needs. One way they do this is through the HRDC school—a classroom they set up at the hospital so kids won’t fall behind in their studies during long hospital stays.
AHF Regional Director Bruce Moore recently visited the HRDC school and sent this report:
Despite it being the middle of spring break and a holiday, the classroom at HRDC was open for business. And the kids weren’t complaining!
Ten-year-old Sumit was born with a condition that caused one of his legs to grow longer than the other, so he is in HRDC to “grow” some new bone in his shorter leg. With an external fixator, it’s not a complicated process, but it is a lengthy one. He has spent the last three months in the hospital and has four or five more to go. “The HRDC school is great. If it wasn’t here I would have to repeat grade five, but I even sat my exam here, so will be able to go up to grade six now.”
Binita completed grade five in her village school a couple of weeks before coming to HRDC, but she will be starting grade six in HRDC’s classroom. “This is so much better than my village school. I’ve got three or four months to go before I leave HRDC and I know I will learn better here.”
HRDC’s talented multi-grade teacher, Miss Narayani, left a private school to take up the post at HRDC. I asked her what was better about teaching at HRDC than her previous job. “Absolutely everything,” she replied.
The classroom seats about 30 children, and in 2016 Miss Narayani taught over 800 patients, from preschool to grade 12.
HRDC has transformed the lives of over 75,000 young patients and, with your help, they can reach even more children with compassionate care for their bodies as well as their minds.
By Brianna Tyler | Administrative and Communications Assistant
By Brianna Tyler | Administrative and Communications Assistant
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser