CURRENT STATUS
Namelok-Naretoi continues to render services to children with Disabilities, on minimal grounds due to financial crisis from the donor partners/well-wishers. The medical Rehabilitation process and follow up, is currently not effective as the support has totally reduced, the program is taking very few cases currently due to minimal support, although they are being identified all times, but we continue to provide Education and care for the few who are still being supported.
The home continues to provide the rehabilitation care and ensures that children in the program continue to get the necessary therapy, hygiene and good nutrition.
The home continue to face a lot of challenges especially for the maintenance and running costs, since the parents and community still do not participate much in local contribution.
FUTURE PROSPECTUS FOR THE PROGRAM:
Every Child has a Right to Education
SITUATION ANALYSIS
CHALLENGES
- The program faces out children when they reach the age of 25 years, according to the Liliane Policy, even though they have not completed their Rehabilitation process, this is very frustrating since most Disabled Children are already old enough when they are Identified and when they are of the age to be faced out, they will not have completed the Rehabilitation, and the program has no other funds to facilitate their continuity to complete.
- Due to crisis Advocated by the Donor, the assistance has been totally reduced, and this has, affected and forced the program to reduce the number of children being assisted, and many of them still needed the assistance and support. to continue, but were faced out. There are many children who are being Identified with different problems, but the program has no ability to take and support any new cases anymore due to financial problems.
- Most of the relatives don’t participate in the rehabilitation of their children fully due to the attitude they have about disability, and also most families are too poor that they cannot afford to pay for the Treatment and Education.
- There is no local , or community contribution to support any on going activities of the Disabled children and persons with a Disability, due to the mentality of the people in the area. and the program has no support from the Government or Local Authority, thus it becomes very difficult for the project to continue supporting children.
- The program has a Vehicle to transport children to different Rehabilitation facilities’ Schools and Hospital for medical Rehabilitation, as well as follow-up for those on treatment, and to facilitate awareness at the ground through community organized forums. The program is not anymore in a position to facilitate the running of the Vehicle, due to transport of the children not being paid anymore by the Donor, so it is difficult to maintain and run the Vehicle, without any form of payments and also follow up and visits becomes a challenge, thus many children have recurrent contractures if not monitored properly.
SUCCESSFUL; BUT UNSUPPORTED:
In 2004, Liliane Fonds also supported the construction of Namelok-Naretoi Home for the Handicapped Centre, This was a halfway Home where children received the basic Rehabilitation Health care, and also Physical therapy after medical Treatment. With the global economic downturn in 2008, however Liliane Fonds fell on extremely hard times and was forced to cut funding from many of its programs.
Namelok- Naretoi was one of them and starting in 2009, Liliane Fonds was only able to provide a fraction of the financial support that it did in the past.
Thus it was very difficult for the program to continue providing enough services to children, in which Namelok- Naretoi was supporting over 160 children, some of whom were living at the centre in Entasekera and some whom were in various schools. Starting in 2009, Namelok- Naretoi refused to accept any more new children due to financial constrains. At first we kept a waiting list, but after the waiting list was full of many children, we began having to turn parents away outright as we knew there was no way we could assist until another source of funding was Identified. The irony of the situation is evident as initially Maasai parents didn’t even want to be known that they had children affected by Disability, now, they are seeking for the assistance themselves and bringing children to the program, but we have no means of support anymore of helping them access Healthcare and Education like we once did.
Aside from not accepting new children, we still fight to keep Namelok-Naretoi Home running on Voluntary basis, as we try to compensate the staff who are themselves supported by Namelok-Naretoi for their time and services, but the compensation is small since parents contribution has and continues to be minimal for reasons regarding Maasai economy and understanding of Disability and wealth.
Efforts have been made to generate income for the centre, but nothing sustainable or sufficiently profitable has been discovered. We recently have converted part of the center to a Hotel where visitors can pay to spent the night and although there is nothing like that in Entasekera region, the visitors that pass through the area are so few and far between the profit limits.
There before, the Liliane Fonds used to provide full support to the program, but now its not any more in position to support due to crisis, and the health centers that previously gave a discount of the treatment for children, can no longer afford to do so, forcing Namelok – Naretoi to pay the full unsubsidized price for surgeries and medical treatments. This has obviously prevented some children from receiving the healthcare they need and also from making necessary payments on behalf of students they support at various schools.
Efforts have been made to try to access funding from the Government, but no avail. We talked extensively to Local government leaders and even drafted proposals, but nothing has ever come of them.
There is no systematized way for an organization like Namelok-Naretoi to apply for government funding and there seem to be several specific factors making the government funding inaccessible. Ie corruption of political bureaucracy, the extremely remote location of Namelok-Naretoi.
A place like Entasekera, which can only be accessed by way of barely defined dirt roads through the bush, is so rural and remote that it is rarely if ever a concern for government officials or non-profit efforts. Not having Internet access further isolates Entasekera and makes it difficult for programs like Namelok-Naretoi make their needs known and actively seek support.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Due to cultural believes, the community is yet to accept the handicapped as part of them. The stigma is aggravated by poverty and illiteracy that makes them view disability as a burden and a curse by God due to wrong commitment by the parents. These believes makes it very difficult for the disable children to survive as parents try to avoid shame by hiding them, thus the socio-economic and cultural traumas leads to many parents abandoning their disable children to risky factors that hinder their survival and many of them die.
Lack of information in the part of parents on disability courses and Rehabilitation. This has led to more suffering of children as parents are not aware of rehabilitation possibilities in the country, and when available, they are far and too expensive to afford.
Many parents do not look for intervention measures to support their children and to live and give them opportunities as other children. They are never counted and hardly mention during family planning programs or other decision making forums since they are believed they cannot achieve or be productive in life.
DISABILITY
IS NOT
INABILITY