Empowering 80 people with disabilities in Iraq

Our Community Based Rehabilitation team was out in one of the refugee camps we serve in when we went to visit Mustafa (name changed), a six year old boy who has Spina Bifida. 
Mustafa is a bright little boy who usually carries a smile on his face upon our arrival at his home (once the initial shyness is lifted that is ...). 

Mustafa spends most of his days at home, lying on a bed in his family's living room. Often he plays with his father's phone for hours and has no one around to talk with. 

Upon asking how Mustafa is generally doing, our small team of three asked why he doesn't go to the camp's school. His mother looked at us saddened and said that there is no way for Mustafa to enter the school property with his wheelchair. His legs barely have motor funtion, meaning he is not able to move them on his own. 
The only reason Mustafa - who is cognitively fully capable - currently cannot go to school is the lack of a wheelchair-friendly ramp. 
In this case, a question once again revealed that sometimes it's not only the giving of exercises or educating the family about a child's disability that encompasses our work, but also an intentional looks at the child's environment. When this intentionality is paired with curiosity, we find new areas to step into to be of help. 

Currently we are in contact with the child's school and are hoping to see Mustafa at school in the near future.

Thank you for your support of our ongoing work among people with disabilities in Iraq.

Ahmed, 15 years old, lives in Mosul together with his extended family. Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, both of his heel chords are shortened, a common side-effect of the lifelong movement disorder. Unfortunately, his abnormal gaithas brought him much shame within his community. 

When we first met Ahmed, he was mainly walking on his tiptoes, with his legs slightly inwardly rotated. We started by simply giving him physical therapy exercises to improve his gait and frequently spoke words of encouragement, reminding him of his infinite value. Over the course of a few weeks, we observed small steps of improvement, but also realized that hewould greatly benefit from surgery on his shortened heel chords. 

A surgical intervention was made possible through Operation Mercy’s partnership with another non-profit called His Foundation that performs orthopedic surgeries on people who don’t have the means to pay for such treatment. 

Ahmed’s surgery was performed in the Kurdish region of Iraq in late March, and soon thereafter he was able to return to his hometown Mosul. Our physical therapist and local nurse and case worker then started follow-up treatments. They visited Ahmed and his family weekly for wound care management and to instruct him on how to do his post-surgical exercises. 

In May, the casts on both sides were removed and the process of the actual physical therapy rehabilitation started. In the meantime, Ahmed has received careful instructions on how to strengthen his core body and his lower extremity, as well as how to stretch his heel chords to prevent them from tightening up again. 

During the last couple of weeks, Ahmed’s gait and posture have significantly improved. His mother told us that prior to the surgery, Ahmed would often refuse to go on visits to relatives because he was too ashamed to do so - but this is not the case anymore. He now feels free to go out of the house and on visits, unashamed of his disability thanks to his newly discovered confidence. 

Our current goal for Ahmed is for him to be secure and confident enough in walking so that he can return to school and finish his education. We believe that this is only the beginning of an encouraging journey for Ahmed and his entire family.