ProjectCommunity care

Knowledge and appropriate community care which suits the society of the village.

In the thana’s Baniajuri, Ghior, Daulatpur and Badda of Bangladesh Niketan offers community care to 255 children and young people with complex disabilities. The parents receive practical support at home, both focused on the child (physical therapy, development incentives, etc.) and on the direct environment (the realization of simple adjustments with local materials and inclusion in regular education). The parents’ demands of care are focused on education and the future of their child, but also on mobility problems and behavioral issues. Niketan supports parents, supervises schools when placing a disabled child and provides ‘extra hands’ volunteers to assist families. By providing practical training and support at home, children with disabilities are stimulated to develop themselves and to build up an independent existence as much as possible. In addition, Niketan provides support  through lobbying and collaboration with the community, local government and local organizations.

Results

The individual rehabilitation reports show that the Niketan care and education program has an impact on the development of the children as they gained better social, physical and cognitive skills. Parents learned how to attend to and support the child at home. Instead of a burden, they are now seen as a valued member of the family. The development of their child gives them the freedom to spend time on other activities and motivates them to send their child to a CRCD or school.

In 2019 Niketan trained 10 parents and 10 volunteers to become multipurpose volunteers. They received training in how to use play and  games to develop the fine and gross motor of children with a disability. They also received training on how to organize a veranda school, how to recognize disabilities and to whom to refer when needed.   Two ‘veranda’ schools were handed over to parents and volunteers after such intensive training. In 2020 they will provide care and education to 10 children each, independently, with minimal support. When monitoring shows that the quality of care is maintained and parents can run schools independently, we will again hand over ‘veranda schools’ to parents in 2021.

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