Children's Respite Home & Outreach Project, Haiti

The kids who come to the respite home (Maison) are cared for amazingly well by the staff and are given as much opportunity to play, learn and interact as possible. But for many of them whose disability means they cannot walk, their development is limited in many ways. 

We’ve worked with The Walkabout Foundation for several years to provide adapted wheelchairs for adult and child rehabilitation patients including 'Maison' kids. But the need is always much larger than the supply of chairs. However, this time when the Walkabout team came over they brought chairs for all of the Maison kids who needed them and have fitted and adapted them professionally to each child’s needs. Thank you so much to the guys at The Walkabout Foundation!

Besides the obvious benefits to mobility, these chairs aid development in other ways. Their posture is better, they can eat more easily, and importantly they can interact better with other children and adults aiding their social development and ability to learn. These chairs are changing the lives of these kids, many of whom have come from, or live in, very difficult circumstances.

Julia has come to the 'Maison' for many years since she was abandoned and left on a rubbish dump. HHA helped find her a foster family  and was in fact the inspiration for setting up the Maison. Thankfully she is now well loved and cared for. She received a chair along with the other kids and is so excited about it. She can’t talk or walk but she has been smiling so much since getting in her chair and didn't want to get out. It’s a huge step for her and will hopefully stimulate more development both physically and socially.

Thanks for your support!

Links:

• HHA's disability work