Therapy Services for 80 Cambodian Families

When Lisa, co-founder and technical advisor to ABLE, moved to Cambodia in 2012, she came because she had heard Cambodia had one of the highest rates of physical disability in the world and, as a physical therapist, she felt that had something to contribute. Few services and programs existed in Cambodia to address the needs of people with disabilities, especially in more rural areas. As a result, babies born with disabilities or chronic illnesses were often abandoned or sent to orphanages for care.

Those who were raised at home had parents who received little to no support or training in how to care for their needs, leaving many of the children trapped in their homes with little interaction. The stigma around disability and illness, also created shame in the parents, which added to their sense of being overwhelmed.

While CIF’s ABLE program grew, helping hundreds of children with disabilities in Cambodia grow up and even thrive in loving families, Lisa and her team found the need to expand the work even further. With incredible vision, Lisa has spent the last two and half years on an off-shoot project, Enhancing Service Provision for Children with Disabilities (ESP), which we shared about in 2022. 

The purpose of this project was to build capacity in local communities to support children with disabilities and their families. Because families who care for children with disabilities need to be equipped to succeed. While government policy states children should be in their own families, the supports to make that successful still need to be better implemented throughout the nation to prevent their relinquishment to residential care.

ESP’s focus included: awareness and advocacy; resources and availability; and training and coaching staff working with people with disabilities in community roles.  The project also focused on building relationships with subnational and local authorities, helping to increase their awareness of the needs of children with disabilities and their families in their communities, and connecting authorities with what resources are available locally and regionally. 

One government participant in Phnom Penh said, "Today's site visit (to Exceed Worldwide, an organization providing physical therapy and prosthetics/orthotics) made me aware of a lot of information related to the services of people with disabilities that I did not know before." Another stated, "I would like to see more such sharing sessions in order to help and provide services to people with disabilities, especially children with disabilities, in a timely and effective manner."

There was an incredible amount of work poured into this two-year project, but the feedback was encouraging. CIF’s leadership realized that it was only the beginning of the shift in Cambodia toward inclusive and holistic care for people with disabilities.

In addition to supporting more than 66 children with disabilities and their families through the ABLE Program, CIF will continue to focus on ESP’s work.

Because children with disabilities are some of the most vulnerable to abandonment, trafficking, abuse, and neglect, CIF’s leadership has assessed it as a key focus behind CIF’s goal that all children belong in a loving family.

While we celebrate the incredible work of Lisa, Srey Ny, Savorn, Thavy, Dany, Vanda, and Marijke in ABLE and ESP, we know we could not have done this without the support of our donors and partners. Thank you so very much for your contribution to strengthening families who care for children with disabilities. 

The direct therapy support that the ABLE Project staff provide to children with disabilities and their families is vitally important. But sometimes helping families to access another service is just as important. Thida,* a little girl in CIF’s FOR-1 project (Family of Origin as 1^st Priority) was born with a congenital amputation of her right foot. At the time she and her family were enrolled into the FOR-1 project, she was nearly three years old. Up until that time, she had never received any kind of rehabilitation support. She was immediately enrolled into the ABLE Project and one of the first priorities was to refer her to our partner organization, Exceed Worldwide, who specialize in orthotics and prosthetics. 

People with disabilities face many barriers, including barriers to accessing the rehabilitation services which are often key to eliminating other barriers. By age three, typically developing children are walking, but for Thida there were too many barriers in the way. One barrier is lack of knowledge about available services. Though rehabilitation services in Cambodia are limited, services do exist, yet in many communities there is little awareness of them or how to refer someone to receive services. Poverty is another huge barrier. Since often the services require travel, many people cannot afford to access them, even if the services themselves are offered free of charge. This was the situation for Thida’s family. She and two cousins were in the care of elderly grandparents who were struggling to provide the care that they needed. Once enrolled in the FOR-1 project, the family began receiving monthly financial support to be able to provide sufficient food for the three children The stipend also included education support for Thida’s cousin who was school age but, up until that time, had not been enrolled in school.

Children In Families facilitated the visit to Exceed Worldwide, where Thida was measured and casted for her prosthetic leg, and the follow-up visits for fitting and learning to walk. You can imagine Thida’s excitement when she was finally able to stand and walk! Thida’s CIF case worker and the ABLE staff continued to follow up regularly with Thida and her family. Over the course of time Thida’s grandfather died and her mother returned to help in caring for the children.  She expressed her thanks to CIF for introducing her to EXCEED and coordinating for her to access their services.

“I am so happy that Thida can walk, run and play with other children in the community. After being equipped with her prosthesis, Thida is so excited, I see her sweet smile. Before, some community people did not call her by her name but by her disability. I suffered from this word and had pity on my child. She now has both feet like other children. Being a mother, I am so excited and hopeful.”

In addition to financial support and rehabilitation support for Thida, her mother and grandmother also receive training along with other families in topics such as “Child Protection” and “Positive Parenting.” Her two cousins were successfully enrolled in school and, when Thida reaches school age, she will be able to attend school as well. In working with families, CIF staff always help them to assess their strengths and look for ways that they can improve their livelihood. As a result, Thida’s mother started growing 2 rows of morning glory for family food consumption. Her neighbors were interested in buying it as well, so the mother expanded her garden, planting more rows of morning glory, and also started growing other kinds of vegetables such as spring beans and pumpkins. She is gradually increasing the family’s income through the home gardening. 

“CIF staff asked me what I can do to improve my family living condition during the time I take care of my girl Thida and my two nephews. Finally, I decided to start home gardening. I am planning to increase it, so I am able to sell it more to the market and earn more money. I must try my best to support my child and nephews.”

Thank you so much for your support to this project. You can see what a difference it makes in the lives of children like Thida and their families. 

* Child's name changed to protect confidentiality.