Support Maasai children with disabilities
Fund a disability health camp to diagnosis and treat Maasai kids with disabilities, and train parents to continue their physiotherapy at home
To discuss supporting this project contact Johanna on +61 474 977 140 or jo@justpeoples.org
In remote Maasai communities being born with a disability is traditionally seen as a curse on the family. As a result, children with disabilities are usually hidden away from the rest of society and are not properly diagnosed or treated.
Recent health camps run by physiotherapist Elizabeth Nyokabi have reduced stigma surrounding disabilities in Maasai communities. As parents learn their child’s illness is not their fault, more and more parents are bringing their children out into the open and are looking for help understanding the disability and how to manage it.
This project enables a two-day health camp to be run by a team of doctors from Nairobi, for 22 Maasai children with disabilities and their parents. Children will first have their conditions diagnosed before receiving one-to-one physiotherapy and other treatments, based on their immediate and long-term needs. Parents will also receive education around managing their children’s disabilities at home and ongoing treatment plans will be established.
Medicine and food parcels will be given out to each family to establish that the children are worthy of care and to ensure they have the nutrition they need to become strong. Elizabeth will regularly check on the children and their families as she travels to and from Magadi, to monitor their progress and help the parents implement the treatments.
Liz consults with a family of a child with cerebral palsy
Mothers wait with their children to receive medical treatment
Medicine to be prescribed and distributed
Meet ELIZABETH
the PHYSIOTHERAPIST DETERMINED TO ENSURE EVERY CHILD RECEIVES PROPER HEALTH CARE
Elizabeth has worked as a physiotherapist for over 20 years in Kenya. Due to finding it too difficult to turn away children living with disabilities who were unable to pay her fees, she now provides free support to vulnerable families who have a child living with a disability. In addition to supporting children through treatment and diagnosis, Elizabeth trains parents on how they can meet their children’s needs and works with entire Maasai communities to help shift the current stigma facing children living with disabilities. Learn more.