Practical help for children with special needs
Myanmar|2021|CBPF
Myanmar, Rakhine state. Two-year-old Su Fai Dar Be Be and her family live in Say Tha Mar Gyi displacement camp in Sittwe township, Rakhine State.
The child has been a regular visitor to the Integrated Nutrition Center in the camp since she was diagnosed with developmental delays in April 2021. The centre gave her therapy to improve her motor skills and taught her mother how to do daily exercises with her at home.
“Now, she is communicating well with the family; she can move without struggle, comb her hair, eat alone, and play with her brothers and sisters. The exercises they taught me in the centre were very useful as I felt I could help my daughter when she was struggling,” said her mother.
The Integrated Nutrition Center is run by NGO Humanity & Inclusion and supported by the Myanmar Humanitarian Fund. The project supports children with physical impairments in three Integrated Nutrition Centers that Action Against Hunger in Sittwe Rakhine State. These centres provide nutrition support to children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and their families across four IDP camps, four Muslim villages, and six Rakhine villages. The needs of children with developmental delays are addressed by trained physiotherapists like Thet Nwe Soe, who says early intervention is the key:
“Early identification and subsequent stimulative physical therapy intervention play a central role in ensuring children with developmental delays achieve their potential for physical independence by minimizing the effect of their existing impairments or further development of disabilities. This will improve the quality of their life and their families’ lives in the long run.”
Like most families in the camp, Su Fai Dar Be Be’s parents could not have afforded the specialized health services she received free of charge through the Integrated Nutrition Center.
Say Tha Mar Gyi IDP camp is home to more than 14,700 Rohingya people, still displaced after the intercommunal violence in 2012. More than 134,400 Rohingya people remain displaced in camps or camp-like settings across Rakhine State.
Moreinformation on the Myanmar Humanitarian Fund:
OCHA -POOLED FUNDS DATA HUB – By Country (unocha.org)
https://www.unocha.org/myanmar/about-mhf