There is a centre for the disabled in Phnomh Penh, Cambodia, called the National Borey for Infants and Children (NBIC). This centre houses and supports 150 children, most of whom were abandoned by their parents when their disability was diagnosed. The centre offers them their second chance at life, and many will live their entire lives there.

Most have cerebral palsy, a physical disability from birth that impacts movement and control in the limbs, leaving them unable to feed, dress, walk and toilet themselves independently.

A Desperate Need For Better Hygiene

In February this year we learnt that the toileting facility they had was a squat-toilet, commonly found throughout South-East Asia, yet impractical to use if you cannot walk.

To use the toilet the children sit on the floor next to the toilet and end up soiling themselves. This is very unhygienic, and leaves them smelling, wet and uncomfortable.

Improving The Toilet Facilities

We exist to deliver dignity and confidence so that people can live their lives to the full, freeing them as much as possible from the challenges of continence management, so this cause strongly resonated with us and we just had to get involved.

Led by Meg and Nicola, two extraordinary undergraduate occupational therapy students from Sydney, we contributed funds to help build a new accessible toilet, with a wheelchair-accessible seat and movable handrails.

Despite Covid-19 the construction was able to be completed a few days ago, and, best of all, thanks to the the community of supporters and ingenious local builders they were able to make space and build two toilets - one for children and one for adults.

The children have already started using the toilets and staff are being trained on how to teach children to use them independently. Judging by the smiles on the children’s faces, it has made a huge difference to their health, dignity and confidence.

Thank you especially to Meg and Nicola for delivering such a wonderful result.