Orthopedic Workshop

The Orthopedic Workshop and Physiotherapy Centre (OWPC) trains local staff to provide valuable services to people with disabilities in the community. In 2012, 2003 clients (1709; 294 female) received assistive devices, 641 clients (450 males; 191 female) received specially made orthopedic appliances, and 710 clients (137 male; 573 female) received physiotherapy.

Community-based rehabilitation services have started in one valley as a pilot project aimed to involve community members themselves in providing needed services and support.

A small preschool for children with cerebral palsy has also been started at the orthopaedic centre, meeting twice a week and serving as a model for individual educational planning for children with special needs. One of the teachers is disabled herself with paraplegia. The other teacher is the mother of one of the students. An evaluation of this activity was done at the end of the year.

Some feedback for the project include :

• “The preschool gives the children a hope, that they can become something. I used to think my daughter would just die – she would sit in the house and eventually get sick and die when she’s around 20. Now she has given me a lot of hope for her future. I feel she is healthy, she is part of society, she has a future.”
• “I didn’t think I would be able to work. Now I see that I can work with disabled children. At first I thought they couldn’t learn. But then I became hopeful when I saw they are learning! They learn ‘I can also become whatever I want if I try by working with my hands and mind.”