In-home help for differently-abled in Palestine

By giving equal opportunities and corresponding respect, we grow a sense of confidence in the persons with disabilities and cultivate a sense of belonging. This makes for positive growth attitudes, and despite any disability, a person will pursue and work on their goals, thus contributing positively to society, this is what we observed when we meeting with the families whom we invited to come to the four homes of mercy to discuss many matters as well as participate in some activities.

Disabilities are different, and call for different responses. People with physical and mobility impairments need decent canes, walkers, wheelchairs, and beds. Some also need every day personal help and teaching to do every day self-care tasks. Also disability has impacts on the whole family. Many families are able to manage the changes in their lives and grow and support each other. They can become closer to each other, and these family relationships are crucial to the development of all children in the family. However, there can be stresses and if not supported, both parents and siblings can be at greater risk for depression and anxiety, which in turn affects family functioning.

Attain has a physical disability and suffers from bed ulcers because of being bedridden without sufficient movement. During the visits, our nurse taught the family about the seriousness of bedsores, their causes, and how to prevent them by changing Attain’s position frequently,  and giving him proper nutrition and sufficient fluids.   He also provided Attain with an air mattress to help alleviate the condition. 

Due to a lack of oxygen at birth, Maher has physical and intellectual disabilities. A wheelchair user, he nonetheless must depend on his mother to for his activities, of daily living.  He needed a commode chair for bathing which the Homes provided.  Maher can speak, write and communicate on the phone. He expressed a strong desire to participate in the Homes’ social and recreational activities.  Staff made arrangements for this to happen and for his mother to be involved in our Family Support Group.
 
Suzan is a nine-year old girl who from birth has struggled with intellectual and physical disabilities.  Totally dependent on her mother for everything, she was totally bedridden because she had no chair to use. In addition to the wheelchair, she also needs commode chair for bathing and a walker.  The staff goals for Suzan and her family:
 
(a)         to provide her with the necessary equipment,
 
(b)         to integrate her into social activities 
 
(c)         and teach her parents how to do some simple exercises. 
(d)         She will need several visits  with her parents to ensure that they know how best to deal with her, do the required exercises for her 
 
Her parents will be invited to join our Family Support group to get the support and ideas from other families facing similar challenges.
 
We always try to keep in contact with families and relatives of those we visit so we may be available to them as the loved one’s needs change. 

With the current enormous difficulty of moving safely around the West Bank, communication with families and amongst the members of our Family Support Group are often done by WhatsApp.
 

      As more and more families learn of the Homes’ outreach project to the differently abled who still live with their families, they are increasingly willing to share a variety of their specialized needs:

       For Iman, 28, a very social young man, it’s an electric wheelchair.  A car accident turned the active youngster into a paraplegic.  When possible, his widowed mother uses an old wheelchair to take him out so he can greet people and still feel himself to be part of the community of Bethany, rather than feeling himself to be prisoner of his own  body, dependent on his mother’s time.  

     Presented with the chair, both Iman and his mother were ecstatic! His mother told us, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I will remain indebted to you throughout my life.” 

     After a number of visits earning her trust, eleven year old Sawsan’s mother confessed that she had to carry her daughter everywhere, feed her in her lap, and bath her on the floor.  Although Sawsan suffers from delayed growth as well as developmental disability, her mother was developing backpain. The family had no wheelchair or appropriate dining table for the child.  Thanks to Your generosity, the Homes could provide an appropriately modified wheelchair and dining table for Sawsan—thereby making her and her mother’s lives far easier.

     Without your past (and hopefully future) support, the Homes could not have this program which so enriches the lives of these special people and their families.   THANK YOU!!

     Gratefully,

     Liz Mulford,

     President