Rehabilitation for 50 Children with Disabilities

We are very happy to share with you that till today, we have raised $ 23,810 with 144 donors. Patan CBR has been able to provide rehabilitative services to Children with Disabilities only because of your support. We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the donors, supporters and well- wishers for their contribution.

This time I am going to report about participation of children of Patan CBR in different programs organized at national and local level marking the National Children’s day 2076 BS on September 15, 2019.The Government of Nepal had also put forward a slogan to celebrate the day. The informal translation of slogan was "Ensuring Children Rights, Base for Prosperous Nepal".

At local level the program was organized by Lalitpur Metropolitan City in coordination with various organizations working for child participation in the municipality area. It was the event of mock municipal assembly by the children. For this, few members of child clubs from all 29 wards of Lalitpur Metropolitan City were provided orientation for 2 days. After 2 days rehearsal, children were able to show it in a formal program organized on 15^th September 2019. Patan CBR contributed for the program by providing 80 rose candles made in its vocational skill unit as token of love distributed to the guests and participants. Two children from Patan CBR put on a dance show in the same program.

At National level, two events were organized to mark National Children’s Day. One was meeting with the President of Nepal.40 children from 7 states of Nepal were present for the meeting. One boy with physical disability from Patan CBR and his parent got opportunity to meet the President of Nepal in person on September 14, 2019 at the Office of President, Kathmandu. The boy was very happy to get the opportunity and he felt very privileged.

Another event organized at central level was a formal program at City Hall, Bhrikuti Mandap. The program was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal. There were cultural shows in the program. Four children from Patan CBR participated in a dance program.

By participating in these programs we can ensure social inclusion of Children with Disabilities. When students of Patan CBR participate in these types of events, they get motivated and feel confident to present themselves in public.  When the whole country is celebrating National Children’s day participation by these children will bring awareness among all to promote inclusion of CwD like any other normal children.

Greetings from Nepal! We have raised US $22,900 from 143 donors till now through Global Giving. Your continuous support and good wishes motivate us to strive continuously to bring changes in the life of children with disabilities. Thank you so much for supporting our work.

This time we are going to report about importance of rehabilitation services like physiotherapy to improve movement and function in children with physical disabilities.

Shree Ram(name changed) is 5 years old and has cerebral palsy. His parents are permanent resident of Dolakha. They have been residing at a place near Patan CBR in a rented room. Most of the people from villages migrate to cities in search of good employment opportunities and facilities. Shree Ram's parents belong to poor socioeconomic background and they do not have higher education.

Shree Ram is the only child of his parents. When Shree Ram was born he did not cry. The mother had prolonged labour period. So the boy had to be kept in neonatal intensive care unit for 15 days.

Shree Ram is dependent on mother for toileting, eating and dressing. His intellectual abilities are not according to his age. Shree Ram has difficulty in swallowing and is fed semi – solid food. He can't speak and communicates by body gestures. He keeps both forearm pronated but there are no significant deformities of upper and lower extremities.

Shree Ram was first brought to Patan CBR 6 months ago. Those days   he could only roll and lie prone. He could sit up from lying and used to sit with support by both hands.

The physiotherapist after carrying out an assessment of the child, designed treatment program. The child was given trunk control exercises like practicing sitting in Swiss ball or doing perturbation while sitting. He was given several other exercises to build strength of extremities and core.

After regular physiotherapy child can now move from one place to another on all fours. It is not exactly crawling but more like frog jumping. The child can now sit independently. The child also tries to stand when supported on knees for 2 minutes.  

The physiotherapist is working on him currently to improve trunk control to prepare him to reach further developmental milestone. The mother has been advised to order standing frame to practice supported standing but financial difficulty is there. The boy can hold small objects with both hands and transfer. But grip is poor. Exercises are being given to address that as well.

The child is active and the mother actively participates in treatment sessions. The mother is very happy with the development of child and is hopeful about further progress. She shares "We have very less resources and we could not afford for physiotherapy services in private clinics.  Later we came to know about   Patan CBR through one of the parents whose child was also being cared by Patan CBR. Here qualified physiotherapists are available and my child is getting regular physiotherapy and I don’t need to worry about expenses now".