SNAP (Special Needs Awareness Program)

In the Lawra area, there seems to be a lot of "malformed" or disabled children. There are several reasons for this...poor nutrition during pregnancy, self medicating during pregnancy, no or poor prenatal care, alcohol/drug abuse during pregnancy.

There are those who have challenges because of an accident that may have left them with a handicap, or maybe health care wasn't received when the child had a serious illness. (You have to understand that medical care is a lot different here in Ghana, especially in the north where facilities that have the ability to do even simple things such as x-rays are few and far between. Therefore, if a child is seriously ill, there is a good possibility that the family cannot reach the proper health facility in a timely manner. Transportation is always an issue as well as cost of transport, food, etc.) Serious challenges may be the result of a very high fever.

As a result of the "communication workshop" that was such a great success, an executive committee was formed to plan our next steps. How do we reach these children, many of them not being welcome at school. There are not special needs schools in the Lawra area, and teachers assistants and therapeutic staff support are unheard of here. So, a child may spend years in the same class or grade in school because they don't have the ability to learn like their peers. They always fail the exam to proceed to the next grade.

SNAP was born late in May 2012...Special Needs Awareness Program. It is an enrichment program for children with special needs in the Lawra District and their families focusing on health, education and socialization. SNAP meets the first Wednesday of each month. 

We begin each meeting with breakfast for those attending. It is a simple one, porridge. Many of the people coming to the SNAP meetings are from villages and travel a distance. Plus, the poverty level is extremely high, so this is just one small way we can help.

Those who attended the July 2012 program were able to have free health screening for their children...

including having a vision test! The parents received free HIV screening, too.

There is plenty of time for the children to just hang out and be kids...playing with blocks, puzzles, and having books read to them.

Another part of July's meeting was a sign up for the children's health insurance at no cost to the parents. It is a program being offered through The Mission Society, through a special account for the Lawra Integrated Health Project.

Each meeting has a speaker geared towards helping the parents cope with their special needs child, or it may address a health concern, safety issues or to teach a skill to the parents (basic sewing is on the agenda for an upcoming meeting). A simple lunch is provided. And, youth from the local schools volunteer to help; they are part of the Lawra Youngsters Association.

We hope that the community would come to a point where they see these children as worthwhile, as gifts and not as a curse. We hope that some day there will be an educational facility in the area to help the special needs children receive an education, learn a skill...to give meaning to their lives. We hope that parents and the community will see these children as unique, unrepeatable miracles of God. May God give their parents wisdom and grace as they lead their children through life!

Communication Workshops

A few weeks ago, I was telling my friend, Sarah Gardner, about some of the "malformed" children in the area. (Sarah has years of experience working with disabled children.) I showed her pictures and some video and told her what I could about some of the children. Most of these children cannot speak and they have no communication skills, so they can't ask for even the most basic of needs. Sarah suggested we do a communication Workshop where we would teach the parents and children how to use pictures for their needs or to express emotion. So, we made 45 "Communication Fans" to introduce to the children and their caregivers.

Finally, the day for the workshop arrived. I was able to greet and spend time with some old friends, Ebenezer, Belinda, Ziem, Stephen and others. The first part of the day was for play. The children don't have opportunity to gather and play with or near each other. The Teacher resource Centre was the perfect place for this. As people arrived, children played with blocks, shape sorters and puzzles. They ate breakfast, too.

 

Then, we started our "schedule" (which was up to change at any given moment." After prayer, introductions, objectives, the children were introduced to the Communication Fans. We had food and water ready so that when the children asked for it with the picture, we could give them what they requested.

Each day included two health talks, one on some of the contributing factors that may cause a mother to give birth to a disabled child and one on hand washing. There seems to be plenty of people in this area who have disabilities. One of the biggest reasons is poor nutrition during pregnancy and poor, if any pre-natal care. Alcohol, self medication, smoking were also listed as things to avoid while pregnant. And, after birth, some of the actions that are widely accepted in this area of the world, need to be avoided, too, such as beating your child. On the hand washing issue, many did not realize that you have to wash your hands several times a day AND washing your child's hands is a must, too. Keeping clothing on a child for health reasons was part of the discussion.

All in all, the two workshops went VERY well, thanks be to God and all the help we had! Everyone pitched in to do what they could. It was definitely a co-operative effort! There were 24 disabled who attended the first day and 11 disabled who attended the second day, along with their caregivers and siblings. It was such a good experience. I pray that these workshops will open doors to further ministry to the disabled, who, in their society, are seen as worthless. God sees them as valuable...precious in His sight!

All Hope is Gone!

This is a picture of Bernice when she was 4 years old. She was a happy child, walking, talking, playing, even going to preschool! She was a typical little girl, the joy of her parents.

Then, about a year ago, when Bernice was 10 years old, something happened. Her mother doesn't know what. It seems that almost overnight, Bernice could not walk, could not talk, was not able to play or do any of the things she had been doing. She can't even bend her right leg at all. Who or what robbed her of the rest of her childhood? No one knows. There are not any medical personnel in the Lawra area that can give her parents any help, any hope for their child.

I know that "Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness..." But, How does that answer questions of a parent, especially if they don't know Jesus? How do parents deal with "malformed children" (the term used here in Lawra) in an area where there is such a stigma placed on families and children such as these? It is believed that if a child becomes like this, the spirits have been spoken about wrongly or the parents or child did something to displease the spirits and this is the result.

My God is bigger than all of that. My God could heal Bernice, if He so chose. He could do it immediately. He could do it through medicine and therapy. Or, He may do even a bigger miracle and give this family the hope of Jesus Christ. He may become their first love, their Lord and Savior. My prayer is that God will use me and others to help Bernice and her family not only physically, but would give them a spiritual healing also. May the Father be glorified!