Over 100 people with disabilities have received rehabilitation in the first six months of INF Nepal’s new three year Access and Inclusion Project. This includes counselling, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, undertaken at INF’s Shining Hospital in Surkhet, plus referrals where needed to Green Pastures Hospital.

The new project aims to empower people with disabilities by improving their health outcomes and enable them to support themselves. There are a further 31 people selected for vocational or livestock training to help create sustainable livelihoods.

The project will also work with disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) to strengthen and improve their provision in Surkhet.

Creating better futures

Shyam is one of the Surkhet residents who has found new hope after receiving physical and occupational therapy from INF.

Living with paralysis in his left hand and leg as well as impaired speech, he worked in India for eight years but he returned to Nepal when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and he has been unable to find work since.

Because of his disability, his family members started to mistreat him and he was seen as a burden.

Following his rehabilitation, Shyam is now able to walk without support from others. His family was also provided with counselling, and as a result they have become more positive about his physical impairment and started to support and motivate him.

He has even loaned some money from his relatives and opened a shop, and is now economically contributing to his family.