Bedilu Wendimeneh
Bedilu Wendimeneh is an 8 year old boy who lives with his single mother in Kebena. When he was born, nothing was apparent that he was not healthy. As he started reaching the age where he should have been talking, he still couldn’t speak well. Then his arms and legs started shrinking and he was taken to a hospital to get an X-ray. They told his mother, Worknesh, that while she was pregnant with him, she was deficient in Iron and that his bones were shrinking. As a result, he is now unable to walk. His mother used to cover expenses by selling chips on the roadside but couldn’t continue working when the supply of frying oil became limited and too costly to be profitable. Now she has no source of income and relies on her younger brother for financial support.
Worknesh wants nothing more than for her son to get the education he deserves. And so it was heartbreaking for her to learn that Bedilu was placed in a class for special-needs children. She tried to explain to the school that Bedilu’s physical disability neither affected nor was related to his mental health but no one would listen. The school did not want to lose the funding it would get from accommodating special-need children. However, Worknesh filed a lawsuit and Bedilu was finally placed in the 1st grade.
But even as he was learning, Bedilu was treated as less-than by his teachers. The hope that he and other kids like him were given was dim.
Previously, Bedilu was sponsored by another nonprofit organization and was given access to physiotherapy at St. Paul’s Hospital but too many obstacles stood in their way for it to be a viable, long-term treatment.
When we first met him, Bedilu did have a wheelchair but since he got it when he was small, it wasn’t the right fit anymore. Going to the toilet was also a problem because the ones at school could not accommodate him.
After assessing what would help them the most, we gave Bedilu a commode wheelchair that fit him right. This has made it possible for him to become more independent, attend school more comfortably, and also make things easier for his mother.