My eyes welled up with tears as I watched my child chew his food
Affan Ahmed suffers from cerebral palsy (dyskinetic). He was born on February 2nd , 2020. His father is gas affected. Affan has been coming to Chingari Trust for treatment with his mother Mrs. Anam, for the past three and a half years. Sharing her child's treatment experience at Chingari Trust, his mother, Mrs. Anam, said the following:
In the early days of joining Chingari Trust, I would go home and cry whenever I saw a child eating at Chingari Trust, because Affan couldn't chew anything back then. My heart ached, and I felt terrible. I wondered if my child would ever be able to chew and eat. Strange thoughts would come to my mind. But today, thank God, due to the efforts of Speech Therapists at Chingari Trust, Affan has started chewing.
When he was born, he had fits and a fever. For a year, we thought he was just weak and had a fever. A year later, a homeopathic doctor told us he is abnormal and needed medical treatment. He asked us to consult at Govt Hospital. That's when his condition was truly diagnosed for the first time and we know about his need for therapy sessions. Someone told his father about a therapy center at Polytechnic square, where he got a checkup and his father paid five hundred rupees. After that, they told him he needed physiotherapy sessions, which costs seven thousand rupees per month. His father does roof waterproofing work and only earns around fifteen thousand rupees per month, so it was not possible for us to afford seven thousand rupees per month for his treatment.
After this, one of his father's cousins, who lives in Qazi Camp, told him about Chingari Trust that no money is charged there and the treatment is also good. That's when we started bringing him here, he was two years old then. He is five and a half years old now.
When he came here, he was not able to chew anything. He would vomit as soon as he drank a little milk. At that time, there was a lockdown due to Covid, which also caused a lot of trouble. He couldn't even speak. When Ishrat Baji (Caretaker in Chingari Trust) used to distribute food, I used to refuse her saying that he was not able to eat anything. Then the speech therapy madam would say that you should try to feed him. And by the grace of Allah, he slowly started chewing the food. Now he has even started saying the names of fruits and has also started speaking a little.
He has also benefited a lot from physiotherapy, earlier he was not able to control his neck. Whenever he had to sit, he would sit bent. Couldn't even turn over. Today, thanks to Allah, he has started controlling his neck and also turning sides. He has started to straighten himself by lying upside down and from face to face upside down. He has also started trying to hold things. He has also started to understand many things. He likes Chingari Trust a lot. At night, if we pass in front of Chingari Trust, he would tell his father that Abba, this is Chingari Trust and would like us to take him to Chingari Trust.
He is very fond of travelling outside. His elder father lives in Arif Nagar, and he loves visiting their house. When his sister studies, he says, "Mother, I'll study too." He also loves biryani from hotel. If his elder brother says so, then he'll also say, "Amma, I want to eat hotel biryani." He has some difficulty chewing hard food, so I feed him by breaking it into pieces. When I teach him the Sipara (Arabic alphabets book), he repeats Alif Ba after hearing it. When I teach counting, he starts repeating numbers and also repeats the alphabet. He also attends a special education class here. When the teacher leads him on an activity with beads, he tells her to give him some colors and he'll want to do the coloring.
He gets very angry when his sister teases him and says that Amma will not take him in her lap anymore. There is a shop in front of our house and whenever we take him anywhere, it is necessary to buy a packet of biscuits and Gujarati Papdi for him from there, otherwise he won’t go inside the house.
He's very attached to his father. After leaving here, he'll call him and ask, "When will you be home, father?" He'll say he'll be home by evening, and he'll tell him to come early. He's started understanding so much that if his father doesn't pick up the phone, he'll say, "father is reciting namaaz." He watches Shiva cartoons on mobile phone with great interest. He also enjoys watching C.I.D. (Indian crime thriller television series) with his brother.
When we came to Chingari Trust for the first time, we were told that we would have to stay at Chingari Trust for two to three hours for his therapies and special education sessions. Then we thought how will we stay for so long but when we started coming here, we felt so good that not just three but we can stay here for even four hours. Earlier we thought that only our child was facing the problem, but when we came here we saw that there are other children too who are facing the similar problem. Some had more problems than us, some less. Seeing all this, our hearts also got solace that we are not the only such parents.
He wants to become a Hafiz, when he grows up. I want him to be able to do his own work and not be dependent on anyone in the future.