We would like to share about the formation of ‘Togetherness’ for children with disabilities who are over 18 years old. This group will work closely with the Heart of Mercy project. It’s great that such love and support will continue to be experienced by these families and their children as they grow older and face different challenges together.

The expansion of the Heart of Mercy project to nearly 100 disabled children (from 60 which included the Togetherness families, so many more young disabled children are now included). This expansion is from the same villages already visited by the team. It is credit to this team that so many parents/guardians are now wanting to bring their disabled children out of hiding and are seeking the love and support the Heart of Mercy team give. It’s a beautiful project. These 2 children have been in the project from the beginning. Neither can speak. Their mothers are so grateful for the support they have received.

An additional visitor has joined the team. He has been equipped with a bike and mobile phone. Each child and their family are visited once a month and some of the villages visited are remote. The impact of these visits cannot be put into words but they mean so much.

Collective meetings have been rearranged to be more sustainable/affordable. All parents/guardians met together once a month which was crucial and extremely beneficial, but obviously less practical as the project grew. These have been replaced by monthly village-based meetings with a Heart of Mercy team member and termly collective meetings with everyone including 2 or 3 parents from Togetherness to maintain contact.