Project Launch: 12-28-18

By using a community-based rehabilitation (CBR) approach, Forum for the Development of Youth with Disability (FDYD) seeks to address the current needs of children with disabilities in Bangwe and surrounding areas. This will involve the provision of physiotherapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy at the community level, including the renovation of a building in the community to become a permanent home for these services. The project leaders will engage the services of at least one qualified physiotherapist who will be supported by community-based workers trained as part of this project. Families with children with disabilities will have greater access to rehabilitation services, overcoming the barriers such as the high costs for travel and long distances to reach other rehabilitation centers. The project will enhance the quality of life for children with disabilities and their caregivers, who are mostly women, by meeting their basic rehabilitation needs, ensuring inclusion, and full participation in local life.

Project Update: 4-24-19

Three months after start of the project, FDYD has finished extending the building to include the physiotherapy hall. 80% of the equipment such as arm rest, standing frame, yoga mat and walking frames have been procured, while others not available in Malawi have been ordered. The project has also identified two assistant workers from the local community who will start working with the Physical Therapist once the space is complete and the necessary equipment has been installed. Eight children have already been registered for rehabilitation services. The project will directly impact parents, especially mothers, who spend much of their time taking care of children instead of engaging in other production activities.

Final Report: 2-10-20

With a World Connect grant of $8,159, the Forum for the Development of Youth with Disability (FDYD) completed construction of a physiotherapy gym which supports children with disabilities in Namiyango, Blantyre. A total of thirty children with disabilities have been registered and continue to access physiotherapy services with the support of qualified personnel at the center. In the course of service provision, the center has partnered with Beit Cure Hospital where four children have been referred for surgical attention. Of the four, one has already regained movement after undergoing a successful operation on his club foot. A total of 25 children have received wheelchairs (4 from FDYD, 16 from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital Orthopedic center, and 5 from the Turkish Embassy). FDYD continued to register more children to undergo physiotherapy at its center.  Through the center, 20 extra wheelchairs from Turkish Embassy and the Muslin Youth United were received and distributed to older youth with disabilities in Bangwe thereby improving their mobility and productivity. The project has freed time for women to do other businesses for income instead of attending to their children's needs full time. 10 parents were linked with Vision Fund, a financial lending institution, where they have accessed loans with which they have launched small businesses. For sustainability, the organization is using student interns from Kachere Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation College and College of Medicine to provide free services to the kids.

"Since I started bringing my son to the tsogolo lathu physiotherapy centre, my son has changed. At first, he was not able to stand and walk but now he can manage to stand while leaning on something. He is able to walk with walking frames which was not possible at first. I am able to do my business now because my son has started going to school which has helped me to do other things at home. At first I was going to Ndirande feed the children centre for the rehabilitation and I spent a lot of money for transport." --Annie Kamaliza