Empower a Child with Cerebral Palsy in Kenya

EARLY MILESTONES INTERVENTION & DEVELOPMENT CENTRE'S objective is to provide early

intervention therapy services to children with cerebral palsy at affordable rates to low income families so as

to empower them to be independent. Mothers too are empowered through training to be able to provide

appropriate care to their child living with disabilities and hasn't acquired their milestones.

what do we do: we work on the inclusion of children with disabilities mainly cerebral palsy through

habilitation and rehabilitation. As a result of our services, children are able to walk, acquire speech and do

other activities of daily living.

November 2020 saw one of our girls ,Alice, a 5 year old who receives therapy at our centre achieve her

sitting milestone at the age of 5 years. Her mother was very elated citing "As a mother to a child with

disabilities, I see the significance of early intervention and appreciate the work therapists do to help our

children and teach us ways to care for our child. This is empowering and I would encourage every mother to

never give up." We are now working on her standing/weight bearing so that she is able to walk.

Damaris, a 3 year old girl from Thika, Makongeni was also able to achieve her standing milestone. Her

speech also improved immensely with her parents being happy with the progress. As at Jan 31st 2021,

Despite COVID-19 in 2020 , we had 5 more children coming to the centre for therapy bringing the total to 65

children and 5 more empowered parents.

We have put measures in place to ensure safety of our children. This is because continuous therapy is

important to prevent regression. With continous support, A child with Cerebral Palsy can achieve her fullest

potential

• impact_report_2__feb_2021.pdf (PDF)
  

As a result of what we do, children enrolled in our program aged 0-8 years are able to acquire their life skills. Our services are transformative in nature. We enroll a child who can barely sit, walk or even do anything for themselves because of a brain damage and help him/her achieve their potential through our therapeutic services.

In our program we currently have 57 children who are receiving quality therapy from our therapists to ensure they gain their milestones and participate in daily life activities. Initially they were 60 children in the program but 3 have already gained their milestones and left the program, the other 57 have improved health and some acquired milestones.

Because Management of Cerebral Palsy is Long-term, we expect more children to gain their milestones and leave the program as soon as possible.We aim to continue to empower more children from low income families so they can participate in society. We hope to add 100+ more children in 2021 to our program based on funds availability.

We were also able to upgrade our facility with assistive devices and toys thereby improving our services. Parents of children we serve were happy because now their children have a chance to be more engaged, thereby improving their motor skills and sensory integration skills.

We have also Empowered Mothers of Children with Disabilities as ambassadors for change and a guarantee for success through our Mothers Empowerment Program. Mothers are the heart of the family, hence empowering them means empowering all members of the family. In the year 2019-2020 we have trained 60 mothers in-session by giving them knowledge and skills necessary for unlocking the potential of their children. We intend to train 200+ more parents in the year 2021 depending on funds availability.

• impact_report_global_giving.pdf (PDF)