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Disabled children are offered medical support. Photo T.H |
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has implemented the “integration education and community-based support for disabled children in dioxin affected areas” project since early August. Disabled children in five communes of Phu Cat district were offered one more chance to integrate into the society.
Make them more confident
“I want to remove my redundant finger because my classmates always tease me about it,” said the primary school girl named Mai Thi Hong An.
Her parents have four children, but only An had the problem congenitally in her right hand and she had to write with her left hand.
“Four our children still go to school while the whole income depends on rice fields and 300 ducks,” said An’s mother. “Also, my husband and I always suffer diseases.”
An and 21 disabled children in five communes in Phu Cat district have been offered surgery funded by CRS from August 12-16.
Tran Quang Dinh whose son was also operated this time said they faced many difficulties in life, so they couldn’t afford the surgery for their disabled children. They could only wait for free surgery.
This is one of components of the “integration education and community-based support for disabled children in dioxin affected areas” project. Alongside this, there are other components.
CRS also held a series of training courses for primary school teachers and officials in the education sector, aiming to provide them with the information about integration education and rehabilitation.
The home support for disabled children has also been strengthened. A new model under the community support network at primary schools including third-and fourth-graders and head teachers plays an important role in helping disabled children to go to school.
Community spirit
The project aimed to create favorable conditions for disabled children to fully develop, said the chief representative of CRS in Vietnam, Andrew Wells-Dang.
The integration education means that disabled children could study at high schools as the others. It is expected to help them to study and live in the community with necessary social skills, he added. It is, therefore, vital that families, schools, and the whole society participate in the model.
Parents associations were set up in five communes with the participation of representatives of communes’ People’s Committees, medical centers, and organizations.
Participants were also provided with a training course, aiming to raise their awareness of integration education and rehabilitation for disabled children. What they experience from the course is expected to aid them in taking care of disabled children.
The associations also held many extra activities to share experience in supporting children.
Project will be continued
The project implemented in five communes in Phu Cat will end by December this year. Its components proved effective, positively contributing to the development of disabled children.
“Phu Cat has nearly 1,600 disabled children,” said Huynh Thi Huu, an official of Phu Cat’s Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs Office. “The project has been carried out in five communes, but it played a core role in helping disabled children integrate into the community.”
As planned, CRS is going to implement the second phase of the project in other communes in Phu Cat in the coming time.
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