Michelle is a very special little lady arriving at The Good Life Orphanage in November 2009 after being abandoned by her very young mother after birth. Michelle was born with spastic quadriplegic cerabral palsy, we were told that her survival rate was very low and advised us to make her as comfortable as possible for her short life.

Kevin with our latest addition Baby Michelle

Now at nearly five years old, Michelle can say some words and is able to feed herself. Here is an update on her progress from Hemed:

Michelle feeding herself

• She is now able to use both her hands.
• Can exchange objects from one hand to the other
• Can utter 3-4 letter words
• Can tell all her brothers and sisters in the house by name
• Can sit independently without support
• Michelle is also able to stand with moderate support

Michelle enjoying playgroup

Karibu Kevoo

Kevin is another child with special needs in our orphanage as he was abandoned by his family due to his disability, he was born with cerebral palsy hemiplegic with sensory processing dysfunction and arrived with us in August 2013 from the nearby Police Station. Again he has progressed very well with good care, regular medical check-ups & weekly Physiotherapy session with Charles at the orphanage, here is an update from Hemed:

Kevin feeding himself

• Kevin can crawl and use his unaffected hand to move around
• He is able to communicate using body language and gestures
• He understands all expressive language in Kiswahili
• He tries to socialise with other children and can play with peers for sometime before becoming aggressive if he is questioned in anyway by the other children.

Kevin with his present

Whilst these children are developing well with the weekly sessions thanks to the generosity of D.A.F.A, they have ongoing problems due to their conditions and thanks to the generous donation by Fiona Kelly from Road of Hope  Charity based in Northern Ireland we now have bought them some much needed medical apparatus to assist their special needs.

Michelle & Charles 01

Michelle has shortened Achilles tendon and this limits her from upright standing, we now have been able to buy her foot elevator splints which release the shortening Achilles tendon. Both Mama Domi & Auntie Juliet in Maguire house now realise that more emphasis should be on daily application of these to Michelle’s legs and with assistance she will be stand for at least 2 hours daily.

Michelle & Charles 03

Kevin has also a marked weakness on the left hand with wrist drop and a foot inversion on the left leg which causes him mobility problems. These conditions also prove to be problematic for Kevin as he gets very fustrated and angry when he cannot perform tasks like the other children often lashing out at his siblings in Flynn House.

Charles & Kevin 02

With the very kind & generous donation from Road of Hope we have bought a hand resting splint to correct the wrist drop and bring about awareness of the impaired hand. Also he now has a specially fitted abductor shoe to correct the inversion of the foot, again an essential peice of equipment to assist in improving his mobility.

Charles & Kevin 03

As you can see from the photos Kevin is not very happy with his new splint and abductor shoe but we are sure he will get used to them. Unlike Michelle who takes everything in her stride, Kevin sadly has been mistreated before arriving at The GLO but slowly he is re-adjusting to life in Flynn House with Mama Mapenzi.

Kevin 01

Asante Sana Fiona and the supporters of Road of Hope, this donation is very much appreciated and as you can see will transform Michelle & Kevin’s lives.

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