Children's Services

We offer a wide range of services to children with disabilities and their caregivers including put not limited to, physical rehabilitation, stimulation therapy, psychosocial support and child protection, recreational activities and referral to other service providing stakeholders and partners, . We seek to offer quality services to our children and their caregivers in the communities. We also train and sensitize the other child protection actors and service providers on the inclusion of children with disabilities. Below are some services rendered for children in pictures.

Parents are also participants for sensitization session on responsive parenting and child stimulation skills.

Clubfoot Treatment

Road Berbera - Burao (Sheikh mountains).JPG

Clubfoot Treatment Through PONSETI Method.

Other children's services

Early Childhood Education and Stimulative Therapy

Early childhood is defined as the period between birth and 8 years of age.

Children in drought affected zones of Somaliland are often exposed to multiple risk factors in the early years of life including:

Poor health
Malnutrition
Low levels of home stimulation
and high levels of maternal depression

In famines and food shortage situations, providing food alone is not enough for the children. Child growth and brain development depend on:

Good nutrition
Stimulation
and the caretaker's emotional responsiveness or responsive parenting.

The brain is most responsive in the first 3 years of life. This is when it grows and develops fastest.

DAN carries out a project of Early Childhood Education (ECD) in Togdheer region for girls and boys aged <5 years, with and without disability, with signs of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) and with signs of developmental delays - or at risk of developing delays in their developmental milestones. These children benefit from stimulative therapy and/or psychosocial support which improved their developmental capabilities.

Child development is multi-dimensional. We evaluate children in 4 areas:

• Social/Emotional

• Language/Communication

• Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving)

• Movement/Physical Development

All the above areas of child development are interdependent.

Parents were often provided with individual or group psychosocial sessions, and groups sensitization sessions on responsive parenting. This project was implemented initially in partnership with Humanity & Inclusion, and later on with funds from Al-Khair Foundation. The project aimed to help children gain their age based developmental milestones such as sitting, crowling, standing up, walking, and communicating. The activities included stimulative physiotherapy, use of tools such sitting chairs and standing boards and psyschosocial support. Success is measured based on the milestones reached. The stimulative therapy activities take place in game-like forms and children enjoy them while they are progressing. The activity is carried out at through outreach to prevent costs related to transport and mothers being over-burdened by the workload of other children under their care.