Hoa is a 9-year-old girl, living with her grandmother in a tiny urban village in a remote part of Dien Bien province. Hoa suffers from cerebral palsy. Her family is extremely poor. Her parents, farmers, can hardly manage. When Hoa was 2 years old, because of her handicap, her parents left her with her grandmother, who since then takes care of her.
Hoa’s parents believe her handicap is a punishment ‘from above’ and they feel ashamed in front of their neighbors. They have never visited her daughter, who lives a whole day walk away. But twice a year Hoa’s grandmother carries her granddaughter on her back, across five hills, to visit her birth village and her parents. She worries about what will happen when she is no longer there, she hopes Hoa’s parents will accept her then and take her in again
MCNV helps
Since 2015, MCNV together with the Health Department of the province Dien Bien is conducting a Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) program in four communities, among which the village Hoa and her grandmother live.
The program aims to provide at-home rehabilitation and supporting services to handicapped people, by training healthcare workers and family members at local level and doctors specialized in rehabilitation at provincial level. Besides that, we provide equipment and tools for rehabilitation. All activities are aimed at increasing the independence of handicapped people in daily live, within their family and within society.
Practice makes perfect
For two years now, grandmother has been taking Hoa to the local health centre for physiotherapy and at home they practice a lot. Thanks to the loving care of her grandmother, Hoa now can brush her own teeth, can go to the bathroom by herself, take a shower and walk around the house, just supporting herself with one hand against the wall. Grandmother also encourages Hoa to talk to others.
At the health centre, they meet other families with handicapped children and they share their concerns over the children.
Hoa’s grandmother has one dream left: for Hoa to go to school to study and to learn how to be independent for when she will no longer be there.
Our request
An estimated 3000 children in Dine Bien live with a handicap, in the same situation as Hoa. Her grandmother’s dream can only come true in society free of barriers. To reach that, the children need health care and educational support in an early stage and Physiotherapy and speech therapy at a later age.
To continue our CBR program, to help more children like Hoa, we need an additional € 30.000 this year only. Your support and your donations are indispensable for these children!
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