Fadwa

Only five minutes from our lovely Ifrane is a tiny shepherding community called "Tarmelot" mostly without electricity and completely without running water. Two-year-old Fadwa who lives there was recently diagnosed with CP - a form of brain damage. With no physical therapy anywhere close by, Rachida and I decided to start going out there to see how we could "help" a few months ago. Armed with our "Helping Village Children with Disabilities" book, we looked at the pictures and tried exercises with our cute little patient. I'm sure our technique would make a true physical therapist turn green, but Fadwa puts up with us any way. (Rachida is now getting proper training, so we'll start again with Fadwa when Rachida is done and actually knows what to do.)

Fadwa is the happiest child I have ever met. She thinks everything is completely hilarious. The girls love to perform in font of her for the reward of Fadwa's admiring giggle. She tries everything we ask of her with a smile. Her favorite thing to do, as you might guess, is rolling on the big ball!

The first time we went, Fadwa's sweet mother wanted to know if she should try to find a walker for her. I looked around at their one-room house . . . unstable cupboards, open fire (her brother was burned a few months ago), open door, sloping rocky terrain . . . and told her that a walker was not necessary!

In October of 2006 Fadwa's little family got robbed because they lived a little removed from the other homes. What on earth there was to rob, I'll never understand. These people have next to nothing. For two hours the house was pillaged, the husband beaten severly (and later hospitalized), the older daughter almost raped (she ran away and got help), and baby Fadwa thrown onto the floor, hitting her head. The mother was tied and not allowed to help her screaming child for all that horrible time.

We helped the family as a church after that and they have moved closer to their neighbors. It is unclear if Fadwa had CP before this incident or not. She was less than a year at the time and progress charts and percentiles are rarely followed here. Whatever happened, the reality is that she has a life-long condition now.

But as we sip our hot mint tea and eat our milwi (fried bread) when we are done, I think about her lovely family, their supportive community and Fadwa's own little joyfully triumphant spirit. There is much hope for this little one!