Marching into the future

As a child in grade 2, Ruthreash repeatedly told us about how he wanted to join the army when he grew up. As parents, we wondered if we could help him achieve his dreams when he had a disability in his legs.

Through the Institute of Child Health in Egmore, Chennai, we came to know of SPASTN’s Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) program. Here he goes through therapy and remedial education support so he can eventually catch up with mainstream schooling. Since then there’s been no looking back; the Padianallur CBR centre is his second home.

Ruthreash now uses his willpower to stand and walk with support, hoping even to play football with his friends. Today, he tells us and his teacher at SPASTN, “As my legs get better, I will join the army and march smartly like a soldier”.

– As narrated by Ruthreash’s mother

Annual Report 2019 – 2020

SPASTN is my extended family

My son Mohammad Kasim was about 8 months old when I noticed that he could not do most of the things others children would do at his age. This worried me; why wasn’t my child rolling his head, babbling, clapping hands and crawling like other kids? There was also constant pressure from my own family for being responsible for Kasim’s condition.

This was when I came to SPASTN Ayanavaram. The team helped me understand Kasim’s problem and trained me to work with him. The motivation provided by the SPASTN team gave me the feeling of working with one big family. Now at 1.5 years of age, Kasim can walk sideways with support and do a lot more than before! I’m happy to say that SPASTN is my extended family.

– As narrated by Kasim’s mother