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May 02, 2006
Minthly report of ILC islambad-Mr.Shafiq ur Rehman
Report of Independent Living Training Program for Spinal Cord Injured Patients by Earthquake in Islamabad. (from 08-03-06 to 19-04-06)
The Milestone Society for the Special Persons has been working for the Earthquake Victims in General and for the Spinal Cord injured disabled persons in particular since the disaster of earthquake fell like a tragedy on the country folk. The Milestone Society has been giving the Independent Living Training to the spinal cord patients at the melody relief and rehabilitation unit and has been greatly successful as all the patient got new life through being Independent.
Presently the Milestone Society is working in three hospitals i.e. Cantonment General Hospital, National Institute for Handicapped and National Institute for Health Chak Shehzad. The Milestone Society Members divided into three teams visit the said hospitals daily and give the Independent Living Training to the Spinal Cord injured patients there. The Independent Living program chalked out by the Milestone Society consists of different phases i.e. in the first phase the Society member do peer-counseling to get the patients out of their physical trauma so that they are willing to accept new ideas and worthy information about their disabilities.
As the Milestone Society started working on Independent Living in collaboration with the Handicap International. The condition of the patients in said hospitals was not that much stable as they lacked the competent people who could inform them about their daily living skills including self-catheterization, stool passing , wheelchair skills including shifting from bed to wheelchair , moving wheelchair in rough terrain etc. But the current situation is much better than before. Now most of the patients can use wheelchair easily. They can move them without any help almost all the patient can do self-catheterization and stool passing themselves. It was the burning issue because most of the patients did not know the way how to do self-catheterization and stool passing but the competent Milestone Society members trained them though it took few days. As the Society members started working some of the patients were suffering from bed-sores but with due help and timely information they are recovering.
Another worth mentioning thing is that some of the patients in Cantonment General Hospital (CGH) were not willing to cooperate with the Society members, When the Society members asked them to join the training they resisted and refuse to join, After a long discussion they expressed their feelings. They were quite disinterested in their lives as they had the fear of being impotent. They said "what is the use of this life because they are no more male or female". They are infertile and they have decided to commit suicide but it was just the lack of information and sexual education. The Society members made them get rid of this fear of being infertile. They informed them that they can still enjoy their married life it is false opinion that they are no more male they can have happy married life. Listening to it they asked so many questions concerning their married life and the society member answered their curiosities and it is happy to intimate that they are taking active part in training now as a fresh spirit of life is infused into them. Now they are willing to live. All the other patients also have such question concerning their married life and the society members skillfully answer their queries.
The Milestone Society members are working with devotion for last many months and their mission and aim is to share their first hand knowledge and information with the spinal cord injured patient as there is lack of information about the technicalities associated with their disability. The lower limb being senseless needs special care and attention. The Independent Living program Implement by the Milestone Society captures all the basic needs and aspects of life from wheelchair moving to married life keeping in view the future planning that when these people go back to their native areas they should be Independent enough that they don’t need to search anyone to answer their questions as they don’t have enough facilities and they are equipped enough to handle such technicalities. On the other hand the women spinal cord injured patient are also taking interest and learning fast the independent Living skills in the club activities they attend the class in groups and learn the household cores including preparing meals, making tea washing cloths as their life style is changed enough because of using wheelchair.
Posted by jicafriends at May 2, 2006 02:05 PM