Khokon is a young person with the spastic quadriplegic type of cerebral palsy. He is from Dinajpur, which is a northern district of Bangladesh. He was admitted to SENU-WMTS on the 29th of January 2009. He came to CRP’s inclusive school because soon after his birth, his father left him and his mother. Thus his mother was so helpless to take care of her disabled child, Khokon. The authorities of the William and Marie Taylor School admitted him. At the time of admission, the physical condition of Khokon was much more severe. At present, he sits in a special seating wheelchair due to his poor trunk control. Khokon can speak. Most of the time his speech is clear, but sometimes it takes a little time before he answers due to his spasm.
At the end of 2014, when Khokon was 20 years old, the school authority discussed with Khokon’s mother about his future plan. After a long discussion, the result was to make an accessible shop for him so that he can start some IGA (Income Generating Activity) and become an independent person in his family. CRP provided a vocational training course on Shop Keeping and Management to Khokon along with his mother, after vocational assessment.
A team, from the Community Based Rehabilitation Department (CBR) decided to visit Khokon’s village in Dinajpur. They assessed Khokon’s financial situation and the job his mother would do to provide for the family. The rehabilitation team began their work for Khokon’s reintegration process in his own community. In Dinajpur they had no place to live. Previously, his mother worked as a maid/ helping hand to different houses. With such a meager income, his mother had nothing to start with, to provide for his disabled son, Khokon. In this situation, a very good friend of CRP, Carol Bennett, from England, provided financial assistance to Khokon. The CRP authority and rehabilitation team decided to buy land for Khokon to put up a shop. From December 2014 to May 2015, the rehabilitation team worked to buy land and make a shop cum living space, with pure water and sanitation facility. With proper advocacy with the local community to reintegrate him. Finally, by the end of May 2015, Khokon was successfully, reintegrated into his own community with a very nice and accessible grocery shop cum home at Dinajpur.
