Kenya Society for the Mentally Handicapped

The very high stigma attached to mental disability make parents of mentally disabled children hide them and lock them up. Uninformed parents also resort to mistreatment of children to various degrees of severity. Some parents lock the mentally disabled children in the most unlikely places such as cattle pen, chicken pen etc.

The neglect of these children is so profound that very often, the children lose their humanity. KSMH receives reports of such cases through its help lines on regular basis. One of the most important work that KSMH does is the rescue of persons with mental disabilities. The severe cases are rescued, given treatment and rehabilitated. Their parents, caregivers and the community around them are educated on the rights of the mentally disabled eventually leading to better treatment and care of the rescued PWMD.

These shocking pictures show children in unimaginable state of neglect. The bottom right picture shows clearly the person with mental disability chained. The girl on top left photo was found in that condition. One of the worst cases was that of the person in the photo above centre. He was neglected by his parents, found in a cave and had lost his speech. After rehabilitation, he has recovered part of his speech. Other children are locked up with animals.