By Bruce Moore | Field Director
Sakhina’s parents were worried about her. She was born with a malformed left foot and her left leg was much shorter than her right. She struggled to walk, but her father was a laborer, her family was very poor, and there wasn’t access to, or awareness of, treatment in their rural community. Villagers would gossip that her condition was punishment for a past-life sin, which hurt the family deeply.
Her family had little hope for change until she turned seven and a community health worker visiting their village noticed Sakhina and told them about an upcoming Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children (HRDC) mobile camp in the area. After an initial assessment at the camp, she was referred to HRDC’s main hospital in Kathmandu. Due to the severity of her condition it was eventually determined that amputation and a prosthetic leg would be the best option.
After some counselling, her parents agreed and brought her back to HRDC for the operation. Sakhina’s left leg was amputated below the knee, and she stayed at the hospital for three months while she recovered. With tender care from the nursing team, regular physical therapy, and a nutritious diet, she soon healed. She was then fitted with a new prosthetic leg and given gait training.
Back at home, Sakhina can now walk to school on her own and play with her siblings and classmates without pain. Her parents are so grateful to HRDC. Her father stressed that, “It would have been impossible for Sakhina to go to school if we had not met the HRDC worker,” and their community is overjoyed to see the positive change in her life.
Disability and poverty fuel each other in a brutal cycle which can be difficult to escape. In a society where being a girl is already seen as a burden, being a girl with a disability makes life even harder. This is why stories like Sakhina’s are so important, and why HRDC continues to seek out the poorest and most in-need children in Nepal. Their work transforms the bodies, minds, and futures of their young patients – while also reducing stigma and changing communities’ views on disability.
HRDC has mended more than 80,000 children so far, and with your help, they aren’t stopping anytime soon.
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