Clinic to fundraise for physically-challenged children in Lilongwe

Malawi: Active Life Physiotherapy Clinic will on Friday of this week hold its first-ever fundraising event to raise funds for the care and support of children with physical and mental disabilities.

The clinic's Director, Kennedy Kadewere, said the event was organised after noticing that many parents who bring their children for physiotherapy lack basic amenities such as proper food and clothing for their children and that some children miss therapy due to a lack of resources.

According to Kadewere, the clinic currently lacks resources such as mattresses on which the children can lie during therapy.

‘We have been operating free physiotherapy clinics in and around T/A Tsabango’s area using meagre resources which prompted us to hold a fundraising activity so that we can reach out to as many children as possible,’ said Kadewere.

Since its inception, the clinic has helped over 700 children with physical and mental disabilities.

“At the moment, we are handling children with physical disabilities, hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities. We also help children with speech problems,” he added.

‘Since we started these free clinics, many children have been assisted, we have seen children who could not sit or walk, being able to sit and walk. We have also assisted children with speech problems and are now able to utter some words.”

Kadewere also expressed concern about revelations by some mothers that their husbands abandoned them after giving birth to a physically challenged child.

He said: “Some mothers have been missing clinics due to financial challenges as most husbands leave after their wives give birth to physically challenged children. From this event, we hope to raise funds to give the women as start-up capital for small-scale businesses so that they are able to assist their children and also manage to meet clinical deadlines.”

The physiotherapy clinic seeks to expand its activities after noticing that many children are growing up without any therapy, rendering them useless and unproductive for their families.