Unconditional cash grants bring joy to amputee refugee

Nyakabande* with the crutches he received from LWF

 

Nyakabande* a 57-year-old male South Sudanese refugee had lost his wife when he fled the war to Uganda for safety. On arrival in Uganda, the father of seven settled with his children in one of the settlements in Northern Uganda. Due to insecurity issues that cropped up in the former, the family was relocated to the Kyangwali refugee settlement in Southwestern Uganda.

But Nyakabande was yet to face worse predicaments besides the psychological stress from the conflict in his country. 

“I developed diabetes that led to the amputation of my right leg, leaving me with a wound that requires routine dressing," he narrates.

Although the health facilities within the settlements offered him free surgery and basic treatment, he could not afford further treatment outside the settlement.

He had given up on life after his efforts to seek help from the different local organisations went in vain when the LWF Protection team in March this year identified him as a vulnerable person who qualified to receive support. Under the Reconnecting Lives, Vision and Empowerment (ReLiVE) project with funding from the United States Government Department of State, Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration (PRM), LWF facilitated his referral at Mulago National referral hospital for further management. 

“The protection officer also followed up when she visited me at home, gave me counselling and an unconditional cash grant of UGX 410,000(about $111) to cater for my basic needs,” says the joyous Nyabende 

“Later on, I received a pair of walk crutch, a foldable commode toilet, two pairs of protective footwear and, trained to use and maintain the devices, “he adds.

Unlike before, the mobility device has supported him to do his daily activities with ease and dignity.

“With the crutches, I can move to the different places where I want, while the foldable toilet seat has made my toilet needs easy. I also sit on the foldable toilet and take my bath comfortably,” he rejoices, saying, he used the money to buy bandages, iodine, and hydroperoxide, that he uses to dress the wound as he was trained at the health facility. 

Nyakabande is just one of the 97 extremely vulnerable persons who have benefitted from unconditional cash grants for basic needs under the ReLiVE project. Other 81 persons with disabilities also received mobility appliances like foldable toilets, elbow and axillary crutches, standing frames, and Cerebral Palsy chairs.

Other devices include raised shoes, rigid lumber corsets, wheelchairs and tricycles, and pressure release mattresses, depending on the beneficiaries’ conditions. The beneficiaries have reported positive results as they can access food distribution points and other services easily.