Michel Kica is an eight-year-old girl who was born with abnormal brain and spinal cord development — a condition known as **spina bifida**. The disorder has left her with severe muscle weakness, a metabolic condition, and paralysis of her entire body and muscles. From her earliest days, every movement, every meal, and every breath of comfort has depended entirely on the hands of others.
Today, Michel is being treated and cared for at the **Freidis Rehabilitation and Disable Center (FRDC)** — a place where children like her are not hidden away, but seen, loved, and lifted up.
A Child Who Needs Everything
Spina bifida is a lifelong condition. For Michel, it means she cannot walk, cannot feed herself, and cannot perform any of the daily routines other children her age take for granted. Without consistent care, children with her condition often face neglect, infection, malnutrition, and isolation — and far too many are abandoned by families that lack the means to cope.
FRDC stepped in to make sure Michel's story would be different.
Holistic Care at FRDC
Freidis Rehabilitation and Disable Center provides Michel — and dozens of other children like her — with a complete circle of support that goes far beyond medical treatment:
Psychosocial treatment: to support the emotional wellbeing of disabled children who have been abandoned or neglected, helping them feel safe, valued, and loved
Provision of basic needs: including food, clothing, bedding, and hygiene supplies that families on their own cannot afford
Construction of two-bedroom houses: for disabled children and their caregivers, replacing leaking huts and unsafe shelters with dignified, accessible homes
Drilling of borehole wells: for the families of disabled children, ensuring access to clean water that protects against infection and frees caregivers from long daily walks
Medical treatment: for both the child and the daily-burdened family members who carry the weight of full-time caregiving
A Caretaker's Quiet Strength
Behind every child like Michel stands a caretaker whose own life has been reshaped by love and responsibility. At FRDC, these caretakers are not left to struggle alone. They receive counselling, training, and material support so that the act of caring for a disabled child becomes sustainable — not a slow path to exhaustion and despair.
Michel's caretaker is part of that circle of support, walking with her through every therapy session, every meal, and every quiet evening.
Why Michel's Story Matters
Michel cannot tell her own story in words. But every smile she gives, every moment of peace in a clean bed, every gentle exercise that strengthens a weakened muscle — these are the measures of what FRDC's work is for.
She represents the hundreds of children in Northern Uganda whose disabilities have placed them at the margins of community life, and whose families are crushed beneath the daily, invisible cost of care. FRDC exists to make sure none of them are forgotten.
A Continuing Need
Michel's journey is ongoing. The cost of her medical care, daily needs, and family support continues every single day. FRDC's ability to keep her — and children like her — at the centre of its work depends on partners, donors, and volunteers who believe that every disabled child deserves a chance at dignity.
If Michel's story moves you, consider standing with FRDC. A child you may never meet is waiting for the support only a community can provide.
