Supporting Children with Disabilities, Bangladesh

Dear Supporters, 

In June, 15 L1 level grassroot caregivers were trained by 3 L2 trainers in training from CRP. Of these 15, 13 were 'smart parents' and 2 were special educators. They will now begin visits to families in their communities, and continue to receive supervision from the L2 trainers for the period of one year. Over this year, they will submit 4 reports to us, tracking the progress of 2 children they are supporting. 

We are awaiting the assessments of these L2 trainers in training by Master Trainer Fahmida Banu, and hope to be able to award them their certificates in due course.  

We have finally received all home visit forms from the Community Health Workers (CHWs) trained in October 2022. The CHWs provided data for 48 children who have received support.  

We collect data on how well the child is able to manage in 11 core areas, which we call Activities of Daily Living, or ADLs. 

The data shows the huge reduction of parents who report that their child is not managing in these ADLs by the time the CHW has conducted 4 visits. We see the increase in parents reporting that their child is trying to manage, sometimes managing or often managing. 

Of particular note is the striking difference in how parents report their confidence in being able to care for the child; knowing how to help their child grow and develop and how they feel about caring for their child. 

These noteworthy improvements are cause for celebration. We are delighted that the CHWs who received MAITS training are having such a positive impact on the lives of children with disabilities and their families. 

Comments we received from parents after the 4 visits from the CHW include: 

I understand more now about my child's condition. 

Now she can do so many tasks by herself.  

She is going to school more often. 

If we try, we can achieve.   

I learned I need to show him any task several times and let him practice. 

If you would like to read about this in more detail and see the graphs we have generated, the report is attached. 

Thank you for your continued support, which allows us to fund this vital work in Bangladesh. 

The MAITS Team 

• Project Completion Report (PDF)