What We Do

Have you ever seen a disabled child sitting quietly in a park, watching the other children play! With wishful eyes and tears rolling down his chin, there is, but the only thought that crosses his mind over and over. “ Only if I could play with those children ” he thinks and than sighs! Disability affects thousands of families in developing countries. Currently around 10 per cent of the total world’s population, or roughly 650 million people, live with a disability. In most of the OECD countries, females have higher rates of disability than males. It is a lonely existence to be a child with a disability that no one can see or understand. They exasperate their teachers, they disappoint their parents, and worst of all they know that they are not just stupid. It is emotionally overwhelming for a child to know that he will have special needs and care throughout life. Each passing day upholds new bitter realities that he has to bare and overcome just to make the day’s end meet. At times, parents of children with a chronic illness or disability experience feelings of anger, guilt, depression and frustration over their child’s diagnosis, prognosis and day-to-day struggles. The uncertainties surrounding the child’s future can be exhausting and exasperating. Parents and other caretakers concern themselves with the disabled child’s health and development, inaccessibility and variability of resources and funding, the lack of coordination of medical care with educational and social services, the lack of public acceptance and understanding of people with disabilities,and the overwhelming emotional and physical stress of both routine and special care.

Children with physical or mental disabilities can face many difficulties in their lives. However, Disability, whether mental or physical, does not disable a child. Discrimination, social stigma and poverty does. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the people who are interacting with a disabled child. Nevertheless, with adequate care and education, disabled children can lead rich and happy lives.

A serious problem that all physically and mentally disabled children face is mockery and derision by others. The adolescent and teenage years can be a difficult time for anyone, but disabled children often face a higher degree of teasing and taunting due to their mental and physical differences. Physically and mentally disabled children may also experience more teasing because they have difficulty standing up for themselves.

Another difficulty physically and mentally challenged children face is increased isolation. Although it is not always the case, children with these problems can be ignored by their peers and adult figures. Other children may find it difficult to Interact with children with developmental challenges, while adults may tend to focus on children without these problems. As the severity of the disabilities increases, the child may become increasingly isolated. Extreme disabilities may cause a child to be confined to his home or an institution.

A tragedy that some physically or mentally disabled children face is abuse or neglect. Children with certain disabilities are unable to stand up for themselves, or may be unaware that they are being abused. According to the survey report, “People with developmental disabilities are 4 to 10 times more likely to be victims of crime than other people are.” Sadly, not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. The vast majority of abuse toward those with disabilities is perpetrated by family members, peers with disabilities or professional caregivers.

There is also a strong link between poverty and disability. Without proper care or education, disabled children are at greater risk of becoming impoverished or homeless.

Disabled children have always been at the heart of the charity. As more babies and children survive conditions, accidents and infections etc. more children face enduring disability. Munis cares for all disabled and terminally ill children. At Munis, We put the child’s needs first in all we do and all we are. On a daily basis we are the ‘specialists for special children’ in the Pakistan. The best way to understand what we do and how we help is to understand the sort of help we give when a call or email arrives from a family making an enquiry, by tracking what happens next we see the range of help and activities Munis regularly provides. We all have a disability of some kind; all are lacking in one way or another. Some have an injury to his leg. What if his personality was deformed? How much worse if his soul was lame? Preachers or teachers look for the good in all of us. (Bless them for doing so.) We do not see a cripple. We have not met anyone yet who isn’t handicapped in some way. So what is the big

Deal? We at Munis teach and preach not to hide deformity but to wear it like a purple heart.

Munis was founded 10 years ago as a independent entity to relate to the problems of mentally and physically challenging children. It was later felt that interaction and involvement of public sector would add benefit to the on growth of these children so after 8 year of its founding, Munis mainstreamed public charity and donations in its policy. Today, not only do our special children thrive in the field of education but they excel physically as well as mentally. Events like sports camps; painting competitions and relief camps for disaster victims are among the few episodes where special children are encouraged to participate in different walks of life. We believe that physically disabled children have experiences, which are not available to the able-bodied, they are in a better position to transcend cultural mythologies about the body, because they cannot do things the able-bodied feel they must do in order to be happy, ‘normal,’ and sane. If disabled children were truly heard, an explosion of knowledge of the human body and psyche would take place

Munis will know their weaknesses but will shows them the strengths; will feel their fears but will fortifies their faith; will see their anxieties but will free their spirit; will recognizes their disabilities but will emphasizes their possibilities because we believe that children are

Amazing, ACKNOWLEDGE THEM.

Believable, TRUST THEM.

Childlike, ALLOW THEM.

Divine, HONOR THEM.

Energetic, NOURISH THEM.

Fallible, EMBRACE THEM.

Gifts, TREASURE THEM.

Here Now, BE WITH THEM.

Innocent, DELIGHT WITH THEM.

Joyful, APPRECIATE THEM.

Kindhearted, LEARN FROM THEM.

Lovable, CHERISH THEM.

Magical, FLY WITH THEM.

Noble, ESTEEM THEM.

Open minded, RESPECT THEM.

Precious, VALUE THEM.

Questioners, ENCOURAGE THEM.

Resourceful, SUPPORT THEM.

Spontaneous, ENJOY THEM.

Talented, BELIEVE IN THEM.

Unique, AFFIRM THEM.

Vulnerable, PROTECT THEM.

Whole, RECOGNIZE THEM.

Xtraspecial, CELEBRATE THEM.

Yearning, NOTICE THEM.

Zany, LAUGH WITH THEM.