Special Mothers Project donates to mother with four special needs children

The Special Mothers Project an advocacy and awareness creation programme on cerebral palsy has donated items and an unspecified amount of money to Ms Golda Nunoo, mother of four special needs children

The donation was done over the weekend to coincide with the meeting of the Special Mother group where members shared words of encouragement and demonstrated love towards Golda and her children.

Ms Nunoo, made an attempt to take her life and the life of three of her children when a neighbour slandered her that she had given birth to “mad children” but for the intervention of Ms Linda Clarke, a member of the Special Mothers group.

In response to the love shown her by the Special Mothers Group, Ms Nunoo said she believes it is well with her soul.

Mrs Hannah Awadzi, Executive Director of the Special Mothers Project who presented the items to Ms Nunoo said, society should look for ways to enhance the lives of parents of children with special needs

“These parents are already going through a  lot and the least we could do for them as a society is to show them love and kindness,” she said.

Mrs Awadzi called on government to implement policies that will enhance the lives of children with cerebral palsy and their families.

Parents must play a lead role in managing children with Cerebral Palsy- Physiotherapist

Mr Kenneth Nangai, a Ugandan physiotherapist is advocating that parents of children with cerebral palsy must lead in the management of the disorder

He said that therapy is no longer straight jacket and should be fused into the daily routine of the child to ensure maximum results

“The practice where parents took their children with cerebral palsy to the hospital for therapy to be done for them no longer works, it does not take into consideration the parents well-being, we should look at new ways of rehabilitating children with cerebral palsy apart from taking them to the hospital,” he said.

Mr Nangai is in Ghana as part of programme called Support Tools Enabling Parents (STEP) that aims at improving the functionality and quality of life of children with cerebral through improved assessments and goal setting.

This project is funded by Liliane Foundation a Dutch organization that supports children and youngsters with disabilities who live in poverty to develop and use their talents with the aim of contributing to the quality of lives for children with cerebral palsy.

Mr Nangai who is being hosted by the Special Mothers Project, an advocacy and awareness creation programme on cerebral palsy in Ghana has interacted with over 40 parents and caregivers of children with cerebral palsy while advising them on what was practically possible for them to do with their children.

At a meeting with the parents of the Special Mothers Group, he said usually families raising children with cerebral palsy bear the biggest challenge of addressing the day to day needs of the child such as feeding, toilet training and general functional abilities.

Parents must therefore be empowered to work effectively to rehabilitate their children with cerebral palsy

“We should stop referring to children with cerebral palsy as being sick or patients, they are not sick, they are only limited in their functional abilities because of their condition and parents must be supported to play their role of improving their functionalities

Mrs Hannah Awadzi, Executive Director of the Special Mothers Project, said the programme serves as a platform to link families raising children with cerebral palsy to the limited services

“We try to put families in touch with help through our advocacy programme and we have facilitated the training of some mothers in various enterprises to enhance their lives.

ICRF responds to the needs of families raising children with cerebral palsy

Impact Care Rehab Foundation (ICRF), an organization that provides a home for children with cerebral palsy at no cost has been opened at Kanda, a suburb of Accra.

Mrs Mildred Osei Asiamah, Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation said she was touched by the plight parents of children with cerebral palsy go through in trying to find a school for their children.

“I noticed that most crèches or day care centres do not accept children with cerebral palsy, I decided to start a foundation to help parents in this direction,” she said.

Mrs Osei-Asiamah said she got close to a child with cerebral palsy when her mother was sick and admitted at Korle Bu Teaching hospital.

“I love children so I decided to research more about cerebral palsy and see how I can support the child, in my research I realized that getting children with cerebral palsy into schools was a challenge for many parents so I decided to offer help in that direction.”

 ICRF operates a free day care centre which allows parents to bring their children with cerebral palsy in the morning and pick them up in the evening.

The Centre has a retired nurse and a physiotherapist that attends to the children as well as a professional team that cares for children between the ages of 1 and 5 years.

Mrs Osei-Asiamah said: “We want to afford the career parent the opportunity to work, school and follow their dreams without stress.”

The Foundation is also partnering the Special Mothers Project, an advocacy and awareness creation programme on cerebral palsy to ensure that they are providing the right services.

Mrs Hannah Awadzi, Executive Director of the Special Mothers Project, who expressed excitement at the services the centre is providing advised Mrs Osei-Asiamah to make the centre inclusive.

Mrs Awadzi said children learn a lot by imitating their peers, she therefore  urged the centre to also accept children who did not have special needs to help those with cerebral palsy model right behaviors.