The aim of AMI, the Moroccan Association for Cerebral Palsy (CP), is to establish care centres for children, adolescents and adults affected by CP in Morocco. As part of the expansion of its activities, the Association has set up the first Centre for Integrated Psychomotor Education within the El Idrissi School in Casablanca. The centre will soon enable about 80 young people with CP between 6 and 16 years old, along with their families, to benefit from local services.

The most important thing for us is to be able to bring together disabled and able-bodied children under a single educational system. Specialized classrooms within the normal school will be refitted and equipped, and, in collaboration with teachers, groups of able-bodied children will visit the classrooms of disabled children and vice-versa. We especially wish to help those children whose intellectual capacities can be developed, even though their physical capacities may be limited.

CP is a disability that affects various regions of the brain, each involving one or more paralyses as well as cognitive and sensory disorders. Ranging from a mild impairment to profound multiple disabilities, CP is widespread but little is really known. In Europe, one child is born with CP in every 2,000 births. In Morocco, the proportion is even more alarming, with one CP child born in fewer than 1,000 births. This is in part due to a lack of monitoring during pregnancy and frequently precarious birth conditions, especially in cases of premature births.

Despite these statistics, very few support centres for CP exist. It was this fact that gave us the idea, about 2 years ago, to create this centre. We started, of course, by looking for potential partners, and we approached the BMCI Foundation and the BNP Paribas Foundation for their help in developing this project. The fact that both foundations were able to support us gave us some real credibility – credibility that helped us in approaching other foundations and potential partners.

Today, the project is progressing well, as you can see:

The project has three main objectives. First of all, we want to help these young people with CP to achieve a degree of independence and fulfilment by being able to go outside of their homes, to socialize and meet other young people, to receive the benefits of adequate care and to be able to experience a decent quality of life.

We also want to give families the opportunity to share their experiences with one another, to have a support system during hard times, and to be supported all throughout the long journey of raising a disabled child.

Finally, we hope to create direct jobs, approximately 30 or more per school, providing continuing education, both theoretical and practical, for a better quality of learning. We want to act as an example through our actions.

It’s this interlacing of achievements, meetings and personalities that has made it clear that this path can only be made through walking. But this is only the beginning! Next comes training of the staff, choosing the approaches to be adopted with regard to the organisational framework, all the details of implementation and the inherent difficulties for which appropriate solutions will emerge. The process of gradually raising the awareness of as many people as possible about this disease is also a main driver of this projet.