Support for every step

“I’m really happy. It’s really easy to walk now. It’s better than before.”

Khant lives with his grandmother on the Thai-Burma border, for the past three years after their village in Bago Division, Burma was burned down by the Burmese military. He was born with hydrocephalus, a condition caused by excessive accumulation of fluid inside the brain. He also developed an abnormal gait as a neurological complication. Although he received surgery to treat hydrocephalus, the gait persisted, and he could only walk on his tiptoes and struggled to place his full foot on the ground.

With the AFO from BCMF and a walker from Mae Tao Clinic, Khant is now able to walk with his whole foot placed on the ground, improving his balance and posture and making walking less tiring. This improvement has also reduced the physical strain on his grandmother, who previously had to support him constantly while walking.

Khant said, “I’m really happy. It’s really easy to walk now. It’s better than before.” His grandmother added, “I am getting old, and I can’t always support him. It is tiring but seeing him happy able to walk more freely and independently makes me very grateful. Before, he was always holding onto me.”

“Without this support, my grandchild would have to stay in bed.”

Thu lives with her grandmother and mother on the Thai-Burma border. She has difficulty standing without support or walking. She has been attending physiotherapy regularly at Mae Tao Clinic, where she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. To help improve her gait and give her stability while walking or standing during physiotherapy sessions, a medic told Thu’s grandmother she would need to purchase her an AFO. Because they could not afford to purchase it, the medic referred them to BCMF for assistance.

Thanks to the AFO she received from BCMF, Thu is now able to complete physiotherapy more efficiently. “Thank you so much. Without this support, my grandchild would have to stay in bed. I hope your organisation [HFA- BCMF] can continue helping children like her for many more years,” said her grandmother.

“I feel very grateful and happy, and I really appreciate it.”

Htoo lives with his wife and daughter in a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border, where he works as a pastor. In 2008, while working on an island in Ayeyarwady Division, Burma, at an oil refinery, he was struck by a tree during Cyclone Nargis that left him with paraparesis due to a spinal injury.

Relying on a wheelchair to get around, later Htoo received a walker in 2026 from Humanity and Inclusion in the refugee camp, which help him stand and move from the wheelchair to his bed or a chair. However, to be able to walk with the walker, HI staff told him he would need an AFO, which they couldn’t provide. Although his friend found AFOs for sale in Burma costing four million MMK, Htoo could not afford them.

One day, Naing saw an HFA-BCMF Facebook post about a 3D printed AFO recipient and reached out to request a pair for himself. He then received it in July 2026. He is now using the AFO for completing daily walking physiotherapy exercises. “This is the first time I have been able to walk [since my injury] with the help of a walker and the AFOs. I feel very grateful and happy, and I really appreciate it. I am very thankful for the AFOs you have given me. May God bless you always,” he said.