Areeba is 2 years old and was born just a few kilometres from the abandoned Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. Her maternal grandmother is a survivor of the 1984 gas disaster and still remembers the night that a deadly toxic cloud billowed from the factory tanks and filled the narrow streets of their community. Areeba has Downs Syndrome and struggled to reach her early physical milestones, including crawling or walking. Prior to her admission to the Chingari Rehabilitation Centre, she was entirely non-verbal.
Since coming to Chingari, Areeba has started tailored programs of physiotherapy and speech therapy. In physiotherapy, her muscle strength and balance have both improved, and she learned first to crawl, then sit upright, then stand independently. After months of hard work Areeba took her first steps and can now walk on her own and manage stairs with support. In speech therapy, Areeba has gained better control of her lips and tongue movements, which have helped prevent drooling and made swallowing food easier. She has now spoken her first few words and is learning more all the time.
Areeba loves playing with other children, especially her brother Abu, who two and a half years older. She loves watching and listening to Naat Sharif on mobile phones and is not much interested in cartoons, unlike most children her age. Her mother says her happiest days were when Areeba took her first steps at the clinic, and when she went home after a speech therapy session and called her grandfather ‘daada’ (grandpa).
