Helping the Disabled

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It's horrible to be blind, but can you imagine being blind, having multiple handicaps and being orphaned? You wouldn't have much hope or much love and you wouldn't get the attention you so badly need.   

But there is a project that is providing these children with much-needed love and care: the Home for Multiply Handicapped Blind Children.

This Home is one of the projects of the Christian Foundation for the Blind in Thailand, under the royal patronage of His Majesty the King. It started in 1985 when forty blind boys and girls from the Education Center for the Blind in Khon Kaen volunteered for a walkathon carrying the banner "We Still Have Hope." The main purpose was to increase public awareness of the ability of blind people to study, work and to live like other people in society if they are only given a chance. They walked 450 km from Khon Kaen to Bangkok.

Because of this activity, the foundation received many responses from kind donors, including the Christoffel Blindenmission (CBM) from Germany, which has been most generous and donated funds to build and staff the foundation's facilities.

In 1986, land with a house was purchased for the Home of Multiply Handicapped Blind Children. The first priority went to taking blind children with additional handicaps from the badly over-crowded government facilities in Pakkred. Orphans who are blind and have no one to care for them are also accepted when space allows.

In 1988, five small bungalows were built to afford family-type living, with ten children per house and a housemaster/ teacher. Food and medical care, physical and emotional rehabilitation are the primary needs targeted for the children at the home. The training is an emphasis on daily living skills, so the children can be as independent as possible (depending on the level of their physically and intellectually problems). Educational opportunities and training are also provided.

The CBM has kindly supported the project for many years but is now helping out in neighboring countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar. Since 1997, The Multiply Handicapped Blind Children has been dependent on full support from local and private donors.

At present, the Home cares for thirty-four kids ranging in age from three-and-a-half to twenty years of age. Another thirty-two needy folks, between the ages of twenty to twenty-nine, are housed in Lopburi.  

Those who need more training in daily living skills, either young babies or older children with more physical and intellectual disabilities, including those that are severely handicapped, need total assistance from caretakers.

Rehabilitation Programs & Daily Living Skills:
- Eating
- Dressing
- Toileting
- Personal hygiene
- Cooking skills
- Housework

Physical Rehabilitation:
Gross Motor and Fine Motor Development

Activities to help children develop their gross motor and fine motor development include physical exercise, swimming, and games. These activities also help them to learn to follow rules and regulations, play with other people, line up in a queue, learn to wait, how to make time useful and how to enjoy recreation time.

Physical and Occupational Therapy is provided for children who need special treatment for improving their physical abilities and some of the children need this for the prevention of more severe physical problems. Special equipment and materials are provided for individual needs.

Social Skills and Emotional Development:

The children are given opportunities to participate in social events and enjoy public facilities as other members of society.
- Public holidays: New Year, Children Day, Songkran, Loy Krathong etc.
- They participate in a number of youth camps  
- Visit public facilities: parks, outdoor markets, shopping centers, temples, and schools

Language and Communication:

Verbal communication is used in all activities even though are over eighty percent of children do not communicate verbally. Most of the children have good receptive language by hearing, except eight deaf-blind children.

Meaningful objects representing activities and sign language are used for communication training of non-speaking children to use for receptive and expressive language.

Basic-vocational:

Children participate in basic vocational training such as handicrafts, mat weaving, clay work, planting, watering plant, mushroom growing etc.

Music:

The children have opportunities to enjoy music for fun as well as recreational and therapeutic purposes. This can both stimulate or relax them, so the music is geared to the children's needs.

The work being done for these extremely unfortunate children is now being carried on by donations only. These are some ways you can help:
1. Donations of food, clothing, medical supplies, house supplies, kitchen supplies, physical therapy equipment, and other equipment
2. Visit and share your free time with the children at the Home

The Home is open daily 8:00 am - 5:30 pm. Please visit at your convenience.

If you do not want to give money, the Home needs soap, Dettol, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, fish sauce, soup, washing detergent, pampers (lots and lots of pampers), sugar, salt and big garbage bags (30X40). The Home also needs many medicines, but it's best to phone ahead to see exactly which ones are required most.       

Contact Info:
21/13 Soi 34, Ramintra Road
Bangkhen, Bangkok, 10230
Tel: (662) 510-4895, 510-3625
Fax: (662) 943-6235
Website: www.cfbt.or.th

* Unfortunately, the founder of the home, Prayat Punongong passed away in 2018 and the following link is a tribute to his memory from his son, Sogprakorn: 

www.facebook.com/braillereadring