Fighter spirit!

During our fieldwork in Zhemgang I was struck by how children live in remote areas, and I now better understand why many families of children with disabilities move to Thimphu for their care. I want to share the story of two siblings, a 17-year-old sister and 13-year-old brother with cerebral palsy, who attend school in a tiny village an hour from Panbang. Since their home is even more remote with no school, the parents built a temporary hut near the village so the children could study until they enter boarding school next March.
Both siblings have CP and struggle to stand and walk because of muscle weakness and poor coordination, and the hut’s uneven entrance makes falls frequent. I assessed their environment and saw that neither wheelchairs nor walkers with wheels could work on the rough paths and thresholds.

After a while of examining and discussions they suddenly mentioned that the girl has axilla crutches for outside and that with those she falls much less often. But they didn’t think of mentioning it earlier when I asked how she moves around inside and outside. In the end we decided that for outside those crutches are the best option with what is applicable and what is available. But for inside the house we gave her and her brother a walker. Which they could try out. Both of them could walk well with it, but found it very strange as they aren’t used to it and therefore were a bit sceptical. 
For the boy we will also get crutches in his size so that he won’t fall so often and be at risk of a severe injury. The boy didn’t think it is necessary to get an assistive device for him. He want’s to do it by himself. But he doesn’t see the risk of what happens if he falls once and injures himself seriously. With time he will also get used to using the crutches and see their benefits. 

The audiologist also noticed that their hearing decreased drastically because of a genetic reason but no one has really noticed because they adapted so well. Therefore the audiologist equipped them with hearing aids. 
I marvelled at how well those two children just adapted to their situation even though they never had therapy or any professionals to show them what to do. They fight through their challenges with their family and also have a lot of support from their peers. The teacher told us that their friends always come very early to help the two siblings get to school. These children just adapt and make the best out of the situation with the resources they have and they all truly have a fighters spirit!