Sokhina and Rozina: the road to independence for a mother and her disabled daughter

A strong woman

Strong is the word that comes to mind as we watch Sokhina manipulate her daughter with the help of Humanity & Inclusion (H)'s physiotherapist. Strong and very stout-hearted when she helps Rozina to sit up or supports her as she tries to walk.

Sokhina, 33, and her daughter Rozina, 7, are sitting on the sandy ground between three mud houses. Today, the rehabilitation session provided by HI can take place outside, as it hasn’t rained yet this morning. A miracle at the height of the monsoon season in Bangladesh. When it rains heavily, all the homes in the neighbourhood remain flooded for several days.

This young single mother and her two daughters have been living with relatives just behind the Jatrapur bazaar in Kurigram Sader sub-district for almost 10 years. Before that, Sokhina lived elsewhere with her ex-husband. She was forced into marriage when she was still a teenager and it ended violently.

“My husband demanded a divorce because my second daughter, Rozina, was born with a disability”.

Excluded from social and religious activities

When she answers HI's questions, Sokhina looks us in the eye and holds her head high, as if to say nothing can bring her down any more. Forced to return to live with her parents, Sokhina recounts how she spent the first five years of Rozina's life at her bedside.

“I spent most of my day looking after her – feeding, toileting, bathing and dressing her.”  

For a long time, Sokhina and her daughters were also deprived of all social and religious activities:

”The neighbours excluded us from social gatherings and called me crazy. They thought it was my fault that my daughter was disabled. I felt so helpless and so worried about my little Rozina's future.”

In November 2022, an HI volunteer in the town of Kurigram suggested that Sokhina meet the rehabilitation teams from the MISEREOR project. Habiba Khatun, HI's rehabilitation technical specialist, remembers Rozina's condition at the time. The little girl could not sit, stand, walk or even talk due to her cerebral palsy. As a result of lying motionless on a wooden bed in the same position for a long time, Rozina had developed a sore on her buttock. She also suffered severe convulsions several times a day.  

Following an assessment of her needs, HI provided the family with a special seat and walking frame to improve her sitting and standing position and strengthen her muscle tone. She also received a therapeutic toy to improve the functioning of her hand.

HI has also helped to make their home more accessible by installing a ramp at the entrance to the bedroom to enable Rozina to move around inside the house. Rozina has also been referred to a neurologist to treat her convulsive disorders and muscular hypertonia.

Towards financial autonomy

Today, Sokina is very proud of all the progress her daughter has made. She has also received livelihood support in the form of a sewing machine and training in dressmaking.

‘Since I've been an HI beneficiary, I've learnt a lot of things, like sewing, but also how to help Rozina with her functional rehabilitation. The people around me now respect me. All I want is for my daughter to get better and for me to be able to educate her’, concludes Sokhina.

 HI Bangladesh is currently running three projects in the Kurigram region. The first is an emergency response project focused on strengthening the capacities of local partners. The other two projects are long-term and aim to support people with disabilities and their carers through rehabilitation, mental health and psychosocial support services. HI is also providing economic support to these vulnerable groups to help them increase their income through local livelihood activities, and is working on the resettlement of communities affected by flooding in the region.