Chisom is a girl of about 10 years old who has severe learning difficulties and associated physical disabilities. She has been living at the family house in Amaudo 2 for two and a half years.

Her father brought her to the Centre under the pretext of inquiring about how he could acquire skills which would help him to care for his daughter. He informed staff that he was paying off a taxi motorbike, but jumped on the bike and fled, leaving Chisom behind.

Attempts to trace her father proved fruitless and she was taken in by workers at Amaudo 2. When she arrived Chisom was unable to stand up steadily and could not walk. She could not talk or care for herself. The only words she could say were “shut up!” in her native Igbo. Since being at Ntalakwu she has learnt how to walk and workers have to take care that she doesn’t wander off into the bush. In fact she is constantly monitored, as she finds it impossible to stay in one place for more than five minutes!

Chisom is very happy at the Centre, she plays with the other residents and local children. The workers are really fond of her and enjoy having her around the place. She is learning to talk and picks up words like, ‘go away’, ‘this child’, ‘I do not know’, etc all in the local Ibo language and her sentences all make sense. She still needs lots of support with daily life but workers continue to teach her how to do things independently.

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