In partnership with Global Call to Action, Polycom Development engaged with locals in marking the World Cerebral Palsy day.

World Cerebral Palsy Day, which occurs annually on October 6, reminds us that there over 17 million people impacted by this disorder. CP is one of the most common physical disabilities affecting the most vulnerable among us — children. Additionally, CP occurs over the span of a child’s entire lifetime with no cure. 

Cerebral palsy is the most common childhood disability, yet around the globe, there’s a broad lack of knowledge of what it is and how it’s caused, even in the medical field.

In addition, many children and adults with cerebral palsy are at increased risk of abuse and neglect, and in some parts of Kenya, murder, as communities fail to offer people with CP love and quality of life.

There are media instances whereby a mother is reported to have tied their CP child at home and gone about her business. This is inhuman, but upon further questioning, the mother said it protects her child from having injuries when she is not around. She further cited that since the child was born he was violent and she did not know how to treat him and could not understand what was wrong with him.

Through World CP Day we can build awareness of what CP is, how it’s caused and how early detection and intervention is the key to improving outcomes for people with CP.

When it comes to those living in the slums, these cases are dire as there are no affordable specialized care for CP children and as depicted earlier most medics are not trained well on handling such cases.

Stella shyly draws a map on the ground as we inquire on whether she knows about the International Day of the Girl child. She shyly tells us upon further prodding that the day focuses on the girls and anything to do with empowering the girls.

Every year on 11 October, the International Day of the Girl, UNICEF launches an annual campaign with girls to amplify their voices and stand up for their rights. This year, the theme is, “My voice, our equal future”.

In line with this year’s theme, Polycom Development organized a well-attended event that has seen the girls address issues that have affected them during the pandemic.

“The virus affected my going to school, I can’t study at home, there is also a lot of peer pressure and sometimes I feel like giving up”. Achieng lamented during the discussion.

The other adolescent girls raised issues ranging from idle time, loss of income by their parents, sex-extortion, early teen pregnancies and increased hunger due to lack of food.

Activities leading to the day

Tree planting-Polycom engaged with the community to ensure e that Kibera has a clean environment. As a build up to the main day, the girls were taken through the importance of tree planting and a safe environment for women and girls

Polycom Girls have further engaged in extensive zoom meetings with adolescent girls as they discussed ‘my voice my future’ theme. Among the issues raised was that girls voices need to be heard by policy makers, the Government and civil societies who champion for the rights of the girls. Our future as women in this country depends on how we are treated as girls.

Further to this, the Director Polycom Development engaged with Family television in discussing the voice of girls from Kibera as well as highlighting the plight of women and girls who live in Kibera.