Ahmad was born in Golan Refugee Camp to a family affected by both poverty and war. He was born with brain atrophy, a neural desease that left him unable to walk, talk and communicate.
His mother used to go hopelessly from one hospital to another pleading for help for her child, but the treatment she got was either ineffective, time consuming or extremely costly for the family.
Luckily, one of Child Guardians’ field workers met the mother by accident on the street one day and asked her a few questions about her son’s condition. From that point, Ahmad was referred to one of Child Guardians’ case management teams, who then visited the family and saw first-hand the poor conditions they lived in.
For Ahmad and his family, a long process of empowerment and support was just the beginning.
For the first time in years the family was well-informed about their son’s condition. They were offered professional psycho-social support and, more importantly, they were given hope.
With the help of Child Guardians’ partners in the medical sector, Ahmad’s condition was thoroughly examined and a proper care plan was set-up for him.
Child Guardians helped to secure medicines that were not available in local hospitals and assisted in transporting Ahmad twice a week to a physical therapy facility to Aqrabat hospital, to which he was referred to for treatment. Child Guardians also helped Ahmad obtain rehabilitation devices, such as an orthopaedic cast and shoes.
Ahmad’s journey to recovery is still long, but the improvement he’s made thus far is remarkable. For the first time in his life, Ahmad was able to walk a few steps after everyone thought this was impossible. He also started saying some words, smiling and interacting more with his surroundings. The look on his parents’ faces when they saw their boy’s first steps was unforgettable.
Child Guardians believes that empowerment and community engagement are among the most valuable tools to achieve sustainable outcomes. Hundreds of thousands of children and their families were, and continue to be, gravely affected by the war in Syria. We can help them only if we all work together.
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