Nairobi family support services

Introduction

Nairobi Family Support Service (NFSS) is a local NGO and has been working in the slums of Nairobi, Kibera, Mukuru and Dagoretti of Nairobi County to provide Community Based Rehabilitation services to children with disabilities for over 25 years.  The organization started as a local CBO in 1982 with the support of Action Aid Kenya but later it was registered as a local NGO in 1996. 

NFSS works to ensure that person with disabilities and their families enjoy equal opportunities as other members of the society. Creation of  awareness on disabilities issues with the aim of among others encouraging all people to recognize, respect and accept person with disabilities; encouraging inclusion of persons with Disabilities in all aspects of life, political and social development and ensuring that person with disabilities are recognized as productive members of the society and have the same rights and freedoms as other members of the society

NFSS  Mission Statement

“We promote a comprehensive family oriented and community based services for people with disabilities and their families/guardians through programs that enhance quality of life and self reliance.”

NFSS Vision

“To promote a society that dignifies and provides equal opportunities to persons and children with disabilities”

Over the years NFSS has been undertaking various programs mostly to create awareness to the larger community, opinion leaders, schools on integration of children with disabilities and the need to make them to enjoy the same human rights like any other child. The organization has been working in the urban areas where most of the disabled children live and we know that health and education services are limited making them to be left in the house when their parents go out to look for casual work.

The rehabilitation of children with severe disabilities aimed at training parents and care givers simple therapeutic exercises which can be done at home and at the same time the parents are trained on causes, types and prevention of disabilities. They are also informed of different services offered to children with disabilities by the government departments and other institutions to increase knowledge on what is available for these children. The organization started weekly therapeutic clinics at Kibera, Waithaka and Kangemi where early 1990s the government could provide therapists to institutions like Nairobi Family Support Services who were later called back.

NFSS collaborate with KMTC Nairobi campus in the area of practical student’s internship for the rehabilitation departments who include Occupational/Physio therapy and orthopaedic technology. Rehabilitation of these children is expensive since most of the children with severe multiple disabilities like deaf blind ,cerebral palsy, visual impaired would always need some form of appliances to assist them to develop their developmental milestones like sitting, crawling, standing walking etc. This is where it becomes a big challenge to parents who depends on casual work which is paid too low. The child therefore become a victim of the situation and organization like NFSS looks for ways to assist these children to be able to attain some developmental milestones by providing them with an assistive appliance. We have identified the following 7 children for the appliances as listed down.

Expected Result

• It’s expected that if these children receive the appliances they will be less burden to their parents
• They will improve on their mobility and they can watch others when they play outside