Nikita's Education!
Nikita has Spina Bifida and is 11 years old. She had been a student at Children’s Paradise
Preschool, a centre run by Buntty Gurung that assists children with
disabilities, from the age of 22 months until recently when her family wanted
to give a mainstream school a try. Unfortunately
the school wasn’t a great fit for someone with Nikita’s special needs. Nikita has very limited movement and
sensation from the waist down, which makes it very hard for her to get
around. The only wheelchair she has
access to was made for a full grown man, which means she cannot reach the
wheels to use it on her own. Due to
these issues Nikita needs help throughout the day just to get around.
The staff at the school had not been taught how to
assist a student with such disabilities and the students are uneducated on
children that are physically different from themselves. This left Nikita in a very sad and awkward
position at her new school. Her parents
withdrew her from class as they learned of these problems arising. Not sure what to do next with their daughter,
they left her at home with a family member to watch television or, when no
power, to sit in the sun and to watch her little brother go to school everyday. Nikita’s education stopped.
Buntty continued to stay in touch with Nikita’s family
hoping that she could help them find a solution. Then GVI arrived! Buntty had stated from the start that she’d
like our volunteers to work one-on-one with the special needs children at her
preschool and she explained what was happening with Nikita. She asked if she could convince Nikita’s
parents to bring her back to Children’s Paradise would we work with her. Of course the answer was “Yes! Absolutely yes!”
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| Adele, Nikita, and Ady |
After we’d met with Nikita’s family, and Buntty
continued to discuss the options with them, we finally received the amazing
news that Nikita would be returning. Her
parents have signed her up through a private program that will let her sit her
exams and study at her grade. To say
Nikita is flourishing would be an understatement. Ady was our first volunteer to begin working
one-on-one with Nikita, slowly assessing her levels in subjects, having fun
with arts and crafts, and helping her to interact and socialize with others
again.
It’s not only making a difference for Nikita but also
for Buntty. She takes in and treats each
child as her own and her heart was breaking over Nikita missing out on so
much. Now you can’t wipe the smile of
Buntty’s face every time Nikita’s name is mentioned.
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| Nikita and Adele hard at work |
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