From Neglect to New Hope: DASK Restores Dignity to Two Siblings with Severe Disabilities
When DASK staff found siblings AM and JM in their community, both living with severe mental disability, they were locked away in separate places, neglected, and forgotten invisible to the very systems meant to protect them.
DASK moved quickly, working hand in hand with community members and local duty bearers to rescue the two children. They were taken to Machakos Level 5 Hospital for a full medical examination, where they were found malnourished and requiring close observation and care.
Today, the story looks different. AM and JM are attending regular therapy sessions. Both have been registered for the Cash Transfer for Persons with Severe Disabilities, giving their family a measure of financial support. The community that once overlooked them is now engaged and watchful checking in regularly and reporting on their wellbeing.
The children’s father also lives with a chronic mental illness and remains a person in need of ongoing support, a reminder that protecting children with disabilities often means caring for the whole family around them.
This is what community-driven protection looks like: neighbors who notice, an organization that acts, and a family slowly being restored together.
#DisabilityRights #ChildProtection #DASK #CommunityCare
A couple of notes: I’ve kept the children identified only by initials, as you had them, and framed the neglect factually without dwelling on graphic detail, to protect their dignity while still conveying the seriousness of what DASK addressed. If this is going out publicly (social media, newsletter, donor report), it may be worth double-checking your organization’s safeguarding/consent policy on identifiable case stories involving minors, even with initials only.
