The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), in collaboration with the Western Bahr el Ghazal State ministry of gender, child and social welfare, and the health ministry, on Tuesday officially inaugurated a physical rehabilitation centre at Wau Teaching Hospital.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj during the inauguration ceremony in Wau, the ICRC Physical Rehabilitation Program manager, Marc Liandier, said the centre is accessible to all people with disabilities and will work to rehabilitate their physical abilities.
“This one (centre) is more accessible because it is inside Wau Teaching Hospital and it is better localized in town. This centre will be able to provide orthopaedic devices like prosthetics to people with deformities and physiotherapy treatment and mental health and psychosocial supports,” he said. “In this new centre, there are 9 professionals and two other people are currently in Cambodia for studies sponsored by ICRC and they are supposed to come back and join the team here in Wau Teaching Hospital.”
According to Liandier, the centre will initially cater for 900 patients annually.
“This centre will provide services to around 900 people, but we expect that with the coming of our new staff next year, they will develop more activities and we expect to provide services for around 2,000 people per year,” he said.
On his part, the director general of the state health ministry, James Ambrose Ucin, said the centre will help provide support to the people in the region.
“This centre will provide psychosocial support if a person happens to lose a limb,” he said.
Some of the people with disabilities who spoke to Radio Tamazuj expressed their gratitude to ICRC for bringing services close to them.
Duma Agok, who lost a leg in 1997, said the center is very important because it can rehabilitate a person who is physically challenged.
“When you are physically challenged, you cannot do anything, so this centre is very important because it rehabilitates a person,” he said. If you cannot walk, they will give you a wheelchair to improve your life and you can participate actively in community activities.”
Simon Uliny, who was given a wheelchair by the ICRC, said he had benefited a lot since he was given a wheelchair in 2012.
“This centre is very important not only for people in Wau but for people from as far as Awiel, Warrap, and Tonj,” he said. “I benefited from ICRC because they gave me a wheelchair in 2012 and I was able to go to school till I reached the university and graduated.”