In a small town in northwestern Liberia, six-year-old Mustapha Tokpa sat on his family’s porch watching other children play—close enough to hear their laughter, but unable to join.
Born with cerebral palsy, he had never moved independently. Like many children with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries, Mustapha was invisible to the systems meant to support him.
However, Liberia and Kenya are now showing how that invisibility can change—quickly—when communities, schools, and local makers take the lead in supporting assistive technology for children with disabilities.
Liberia: when rehabilitation begins in the community
Liberia has just one physiotherapist for the entire country. As a result, families must travel long distances for rehabilitation—if they reach it at all. Through the Build a World of Play partnership, the government of Liberia and CHAI are shifting support out of centralized facilities and into homes and neighborhoods.
Working with Restoring Our Children’s Hope and World Hope International, community volunteers receive training to identify children with disabilities, make referrals, and run therapeutic play sessions close to home. This simple shift eases the pressure on the country’s only Medical Rehabilitation Center, located in the capital, Monrovia, while ensuring children are reached earlier.
Producing assistive devices locally
To address the lack of affordable assistive technology, CHAI helped train two local carpenters to build standing frames, corner seats, splints, 90-degree chairs, and commodes. Under guidance from rehabilitation specialists and using standardized designs, they produced 82 devices for 25 children in one month alone.
Each device costs USD 30–50, far less than imported equipment and far faster to produce or repair. Early learnings show that hands-on collaboration between carpenters and specialists improved quality, while home delivery helped families feel confident using the devices.
Mustapha was among the first children reached. A community volunteer began visiting his home, adapting familiar games so he could participate safely. These sessions led to his referral to the Rehabilitation Center, where he received his first wheelchair and postural devices—tools that opened his world.
Today, Mustapha moves freely around his yard, plays with friends, and uses the bathroom independently.
“I feel like Mustapha is reborn,” his mother said. “He feels important when his friends come behind him and push him to the playground.”
Kenya: bringing screening, play, and assistive technology to kids
Where Liberia is reshaping community-based care, Kenya is showing what happens when schools and play spaces become the front line of early identification for assistive technology for children with disabilities.
In partnership with the government, CHAI supports an outreach model where specialists from referral hospitals travel to special needs schools and community play camps. On scheduled visit days, children are screened for vision, hearing, mobility, and developmental needs—often for the first time.
Teachers receive training to spot concerns early and help students care for their products, while health workers return for repairs and refitting.
To make classrooms more inclusive, CHAI also worked with a local craftsman to co-design braille puzzles, braille number and alphabet boards, Kenyan sign language flashcards and sensory toys. After testing prototypes with teachers and children, 13 adaptive toys were finalized. This co-design process resulted in more culturally relevant, needs-sensitive, and context-appropriate play items. Nearly 2,000 of these toys have now been distributed to 30 special needs schools and over 250 teachers have been trained to use them.
Since 2024, this combined school and community outreach model has screened more than 15,000 children, connecting many to vision, hearing, and mobility aids. The approach is informing Kenya’s new Special Needs and Inclusive Education Strategy, embedding play, screening, and assistive technology into national policy.
A return to Mustapha—and the children still waiting
Liberia and Kenya are proving that early support for children with disabilities does not start in hospitals. It begins in homes, classrooms, and community play spaces.
Moreover, local production keeps devices affordable. Integrated outreach brings specialists to where children are. And communities, once overlooked, become central to identifying and supporting children early.
For Mustapha, these changes brought his first wheelchair and the joy of playing alongside his peers. For thousands of children like him—in Liberia, Kenya, and beyond—they offer something just as powerful: the chance to be seen, supported, and included from the very start.
