An international aid group has given three siblings in Gaza custom devices meant to help them move, eat and write with less help, according to UN News.
The United Nations’ aid coordination office, known as OCHA, funded the work, UN News reported on Saturday. The article said the help went ahead despite ongoing violence across the Gaza Strip.
Anas, 10, Sujood, 17, and Mohammad, 15, were each born without legs and with two fingers on each hand, the report said. Before the devices, they had trouble getting around and doing everyday tasks such as eating and writing without help.
Anas had crawled on his hands, and his mother often carried him, UN News reported. EducAid upgraded his wheelchair with a table that can be removed and a waterproof shield for his lower body. He also received a grip for a pen, a slanted table that can be adjusted, and aids for walking on his hands.
His mother said the tools had helped him become more independent, especially with writing and eating. Anas told the support team, “I am very happy and I love you so much,” according to the report.
Sujood, his older sister, received a size-40 wheelchair with a dining table that comes off, plus an adjustable slant table, a waterproof shield for her lower body and a walking aid that supports her hands, the report said. “For the first time I have my own chair,” she said. She said she slept in it so her siblings would not take it, and that she felt someone cared about her.
Writing used to exhaust her, and she had to lie down to do it, UN News reported. With the chair and table, she can write in comfort, she said. She said the chair would help her study media, the field she loves, and leave the tent without messing up her clothes.
Mohammad received devices that EducAid designed after studying how he lives at school and at home, the report said. The group made them in its workshops and laboratories. One piece was a wheelchair fitted with a skateboard, which he likes for getting around.
His mother said the hand grips protect his hands from wounds, slipping and the hardship of crawling, according to UN News. She said the table was very helpful, that he was happy using the small skateboard chair, and that a commode chair made a huge difference. Mohammad said he was very happy with the table because his clothes no longer get dirty.
Their teacher, whom the article did not name, said the children are eager to study and had begun to write more effectively. The article did not say what the devices cost or when they were delivered. UN News also did not say how many other children received similar help.