- J
- J
Thank you everyone for helping Chanthy to get the surgery that she needed! She came to the U.S. in July, 2016, with the Him family, received 2 rounds of surgery and recovered well. She lived with the Him family and began her recover and rehabilitation for six months. During that time she encountered some unexpected health problems (stomach ulcers and intestinal bloackage) but she was treated in a hospital in Georgia, and we are thankful that these health problems came to light now so that we can keep an eye on them for the future. Chanthy experience many new adventures while staying with us in America, including the beautiful mountains of Maine, fall leaves, snow, tubbing, and ice skating.
In Januray, 2017, Chanthy returned to Cambodia where she is once again living at Lina's Hope and receiving daily therapy. She is now walking daily at the parallel bars and spends time standing in a standing frame. She is learning daily life skills like brushing her own hair and teeth, cooking her own food, and washing her own laundry. She spends half an hour per day standing at the sink washing dishes at Lina's Hope for pay so that she can have a small salary to begin learning how to use her own money. Chanthy continues to learn to read, and where she was once blind and unable to track light with her eyes, she can now read black and white print that is an inch tall. We are so excited about the progress that Chanthy is making. Soon we will post pictures of Chanthy walking in Cambodia!
Lina's Hope is a school and therapy center for children with disabilities, namely brain injury such as cerebral palsy, in Kampot, Cambodia.
Some of the most marginalized and neglected people in Cambodia are those with disabilities. Because of poor health education and a lack of appropriate medical care, there is a high rate of disability, especially brain injury. Improper birthing practices, a lack of health education in the villages, the practice of heating up children with fevers instead of cooling them down, accidents, and defective immunizations all contribute to the high rate of brain injury in Cambodian children.
Secondly, people with disabilities are some of the most marginalized, neglected, vulnerable, and abused people in Cambodia due to cultural and religious beliefs. Cambodians generally believe that if a person is born with a disability or has an accident that causes any disability, it must be a result of his or her evil deeds in a past life. Therefore, the disability is the fault of the person who suffers it, and the person is viewed as deserving the disability as the consequence of his own bad actions. People who suffer disability are seen as cursed. Children with disabilities are seen as a disgrace and a dishonor to the family. Many parents hide away their disabled children, trying to keep them from the notice of the community. Poorer families may force their children to beg for money as a source of income. Many disabled people suffer physical, emotional, and other types of abuse at the hands of family members. They lack equal access to education, employment and facilities to enable them to move about outside the home. This constant lack of opportunity alienates them from fully participating in their communities.
TTLC meets daily, Monday through Friday. Each morning the day begins at 8:00 am when the director, Krosal, picks up older students over the age of five in the area from their homes in the TTLC van. The students begin the day with a healthy breakfast. Staff gather to pray over each child as physical, sensory, and coordination therapy sessions begin. Our therapy equipment includes various equipment for teaching balance, parallel bars for learning to walk, various tools for teaching hand/eye coordination, walkers, a hyperbaric chamber, and a hydrotherapy pool. Between therapy sessions, students have a class in learning to read Khmer (the language of Cambodia), math, and a snack time. At midday the students have a healthy lunch and enjoy a craft time to strengthen hand/eye coordination, followed by a rest time and a Bible time with Bible stories and songs. Students under the age of five years old arrive with their parents at 2:00 pm. After more therapy sessions throughout the afternoon, students end the day with hydrotherapy in a small pool before being transported back home in the TTLC van. In addition, every two months TTLC students are taken on field trips like the beach or the zoo to give them new learning experiences in the world that God made.
Please check out Lina's Hope on facebook to see our latest adventures at Lina's Hope/TTLC !!
In Januray, 2017, Chanthy returned to Cambodia where she is once again living at Lina's Hope and receiving daily therapy. She is now walking daily at the parallel bars and spends time standing in a standing frame. She is learning daily life skills like brushing her own hair and teeth, cooking her own food, and washing her own laundry. She spends half an hour per day standing at the sink washing dishes at Lina's Hope for pay so that she can have a small salary to begin learning how to use her own money. Chanthy continues to learn to read, and where she was once blind and unable to track light with her eyes, she can now read black and white print that is an inch tall. We are so excited about the progress that Chanthy is making. Soon we will post pictures of Chanthy walking in Cambodia!
Lina's Hope is a school and therapy center for children with disabilities, namely brain injury such as cerebral palsy, in Kampot, Cambodia.
Some of the most marginalized and neglected people in Cambodia are those with disabilities. Because of poor health education and a lack of appropriate medical care, there is a high rate of disability, especially brain injury. Improper birthing practices, a lack of health education in the villages, the practice of heating up children with fevers instead of cooling them down, accidents, and defective immunizations all contribute to the high rate of brain injury in Cambodian children.
Secondly, people with disabilities are some of the most marginalized, neglected, vulnerable, and abused people in Cambodia due to cultural and religious beliefs. Cambodians generally believe that if a person is born with a disability or has an accident that causes any disability, it must be a result of his or her evil deeds in a past life. Therefore, the disability is the fault of the person who suffers it, and the person is viewed as deserving the disability as the consequence of his own bad actions. People who suffer disability are seen as cursed. Children with disabilities are seen as a disgrace and a dishonor to the family. Many parents hide away their disabled children, trying to keep them from the notice of the community. Poorer families may force their children to beg for money as a source of income. Many disabled people suffer physical, emotional, and other types of abuse at the hands of family members. They lack equal access to education, employment and facilities to enable them to move about outside the home. This constant lack of opportunity alienates them from fully participating in their communities.
TTLC meets daily, Monday through Friday. Each morning the day begins at 8:00 am when the director, Krosal, picks up older students over the age of five in the area from their homes in the TTLC van. The students begin the day with a healthy breakfast. Staff gather to pray over each child as physical, sensory, and coordination therapy sessions begin. Our therapy equipment includes various equipment for teaching balance, parallel bars for learning to walk, various tools for teaching hand/eye coordination, walkers, a hyperbaric chamber, and a hydrotherapy pool. Between therapy sessions, students have a class in learning to read Khmer (the language of Cambodia), math, and a snack time. At midday the students have a healthy lunch and enjoy a craft time to strengthen hand/eye coordination, followed by a rest time and a Bible time with Bible stories and songs. Students under the age of five years old arrive with their parents at 2:00 pm. After more therapy sessions throughout the afternoon, students end the day with hydrotherapy in a small pool before being transported back home in the TTLC van. In addition, every two months TTLC students are taken on field trips like the beach or the zoo to give them new learning experiences in the world that God made.
Please check out Lina's Hope on facebook to see our latest adventures at Lina's Hope/TTLC !!