Thanks to physiotherapy and care at the Homs center, Dima is making “giant steps” toward his dream of going out and playing freely with his friends.
In Syria, many children with disabilities are unable to follow treatment and rehabilitation because the war and international sanctions have made public services inefficient and specialized care very expensive. Dima is 10 years old and has severe paralysis. She is in third grade, but had to interrupt her studies because of her illness. Since March, she has been treated, with notable progress, by the “Khatwa” physiotherapy center, which is part of the “Seeds of Hope” program in Syria. Her family has experienced the horrors of war and had to face its serious consequences, forced to flee from Palmyra to Raqqa and then to Homs. Dima’s mother works as an employee, her older brother attends high school and will graduate this year, while her two younger brothers had to leave school to help their father in selling cardboard and used objects.
A step back to Homs
Once in Homs, despite the precarious economic conditions, Dima’s family tried to continue the treatments and therapies interrupted in Palmyra where the rehabilitation process had allowed her to achieve remarkable results. Unfortunately, the pause caused Dima’s conditions to regress and also made her lose the benefits of the progress achieved. Once they arrived in Homs, there were several interventions to try to recover the situation , the last one was on January 3, 2021 after which, the treatment with the “Khatwa” center began. At that point Dima was no longer able to move, but the therapist began to work with her anyway until, little by little, she was able to get up again and take her first steps.
It was precisely the encouragement and climate of trust that was created between Dima, her family and the therapist that allowed her to find hope again. A period full of exercises and tests began that today make her dream possible: to wear her new party clothes and go out to play with her friends.
