Dhani’s First Steps to School

Before therapy began last December, Dhani could sit only if someone held her up. This July, she took her own seat in Class 1.

Six-year-old Dhani lives in Padabhat, Tilda Block, Raipur district, Chhattisgarh, with her sister Ganishka and her grandparents, Tilak and Dasoda. She was born with cerebral palsy. Since her father, the late Mukesh Yadav, passed away, her mother Chaiti has been the family’s only earner, working as a daily wage labourer.

Every trip to a therapy centre cost money and a day’s wages the family could not spare. Dhani went without regular therapy in her early years, and she watched other children run ahead.

“After my husband passed away, managing the family and caring for Dhani became very difficult,” Chaiti recalls. “I wanted her to receive treatment, but I could not always manage the travel, time and expenses. I was worried about what her future would look like.”

The turning point came during a home visit by the Khushaal Bachpan team of Caritas India, supported by Caritas Australia. The team met Dhani, listened to her family and explained how regular therapy could help her move. Daily pressures made it hard to follow through at first. But when Dhani’s condition worsened, the family knew where to turn.

On 14 December 2025, Dasoda called the team. The next morning, they travelled with the family to the Samagra Shiksha therapy centre at Tilda. Therapists advised sessions four times a week, and the team patiently helped the family see why each one mattered.

“When we first took Dhani to the therapy centre with the help of the Khushaal Bachpan team, we felt that someone was standing with our family,” says Dasoda. “We wanted to give her every possible chance to improve.”

Until March 2026, Dasoda took Dhani for therapy on alternate days. The team kept visiting, and Dhani received double-bar walking equipment and leg braces. The child who once could only sit with support began to stand with it.

“The change may seem small to others,” says her grandfather, Tilak, “but for our family it is a very big achievement.”

The team then guided the family through admission at Government Primary School, Padabhat. In July 2026, Dhani joined Class 1. She now visits the therapy centre about once every two weeks, or whenever she needs it.

Dhani’s story shows that disability should never keep a child away from therapy, classrooms or community life. What changed things for her was steady companionship: early identification, family counselling, referrals, assistive devices and school admission support.

Dhani is still taking small steps. But with Caritas India and Caritas Australia walking beside families like hers, small steps become milestones towards a more inclusive future.