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As I was riding a moto taxi the other day, I saw a man sitting by the road edge. He had his hands in a pair of shoes, "what a dangerous place for a shoe repairer to work" I thought. I was intrigued enough to turn around as we drove past, to my horror I realized that he wasn't repairing shoes, he was using them for protection as he attempted to crawl across the road. This was just near the main road to Vietnam.  In the time it took for us to speed into the distance, he'd attempted to cross 3 times and pulled back narrowly missing motos, trucks and cars.

Life for people with disabilities in Cambodia is not easy; Prejudice, fear and exclusion from communities and families is common. The place I most often see adults with disabilities is in the markets with a begging bowl.

But things are changing, there are many organizations in Phnom Penh supporting people with disabilities to develop their dreams and sense of self worth. This man could get a wheelchair made for him. There are also vocational training centre supporting people with disabilities to learn new skills and earn a living.

TASK's (our Cambodian partners) The Little Conquerors program (TLC) was started by Servants in 1993.  Currently it supports close to 150 families of kids with disabilities to access information about disability, therapy services, education opportunities, medications and most of all provides social support; promoting an alternative reason for disability and promoting the worth of the person with the disability.

Here are a couple of stories from children we support. I have a lot of hope that their lives will be different …..

Ravi's Story

Ravi is 4 years old. He first came to TLC when he was 2. He lives with his mother (a factory worker), his older brother (6 years) and his grandmother.

When Ravi was just a few days old he had a fever and became very sick. His family took him to the hospital when he was 8 days old where he was treated for meningitis. He recovered but continued to be “very floppy” and slow to develop his skills.

When he first came to TLC he was not able to reach and grasp objects, crawl or sit. Ravi is looked after by his grandmother and the 2 of them come each week to stimulation group.

Through TLC Ravi’s grandmother has learnt how to help Ravis’s limbs to become more flexible and coordinated, as well as giving ideas for games to play with him. Ravi’s grandmothers perseverance in providing Ravi this stimulation means he is now able to crawl, sit unsupported and make cheeky smiles to all.

He really enjoys the group activities, clapping independently to familiar songs and making sure he’s in the centre of any ball or car games. Ravi can now use his hands to sompar (Khmer greeting). Water play continues to be a favorite activity (see photo!)

TLC has supported Ravi’s family with small amounts of rice, fish and soy milk, teaching his grandmother about good nutrition. He is now healthy and only misses stimulation group when his grandmother is unwell.

When we asked Ravi’s grandmother what is the reason she comes each week she said she wants Ravi to improve quickly, before he could not do very much, now he can do much more.

Veha's Story (written by Sokhoern, teacher at Sunrise School, TLC)

Veha is 11 years old. He has Down Syndrome. He also had an accident when he is still young. He was inside the mosquito net when a candle burnt the net and burnt Veha’s feet, but he can walk properly.

He lives with his father and grandmother. His mother has gone away from him when he was so young because she has problem with his husband and she does not love Veha because of his disability. His father is a construction worker and his grandmother is a bread vendor along the street.

They are so poor they did not own their house, now they rent a house so that they have place to live. Veha came to Sunrise School (part of TLC) on November 01, 2007.

During the first time that he attend in our school he can not speak but he can hear. He only do activity to show what he wanted. He is such a strong character. He did not listen to the teacher. He didn’t follow what the teacher wanted him to do. He just does his own things. He always bothers other children. He wanted the attention of his teacher.

After 2 months at school he started to interact with the teachers and classmates. The teaches used signing as well as speech to talk with him. He has started to talk and at the same time we teach him to do sign language. This time Veha learns some letters and he always tell stories about his family. Every Monday we ask him about his family and he tries to tell what happened to his family during the weekend.