Kyaik Waing Disabled Children Care Center

“Kyaik Waing Disabled Children Care Center” is located at the Kyaik Waing, near the 8th Mile Junction in Yangon. The main purpose is to provide support for the children with special needs. The main services offered at the center are: day care, health care, education, and physical therapy for the children. There are about 63 children (38 boys and 25 girls) with special needs. That includes a few months old baby to twenty plus old young adults. The Center is run by the Government and supported by non-government organizations and individual donors. It has about 25 full-time staff lead by a principal. According to the principal, “Most of them are suffering from mental illness and consequently physically disabled. Some of them were born normal, but suffered from occasional high fevers during early ages. Consequently, they contracted polio and damaged their brains. Some of them had trauma while they were babies and could not recovered from the shocks. Some of the children had serious illness after birth. The sad thing was that all of them were abandoned by their parents due to various reasons. Nobody wants to adopt them either because of their conditions.” In other words, these children were not accepted by the society. Because the children are mentally challenged, they cannot attend a normal school. Fortunately, the Center provides basic education for these children. In terms of support, these children, particularly at the age up to 2, need medical attention. Good health care services and facilities are definitely needed for the children with special needs at their earlier age.