House of Hope

CCBRT Moshi

Recognizing the need for health services in rural parts of Tanzania, CCBRT opened a rehabilitation centre in Moshi in 1996.

Recognizing the need for health services in rural parts of Tanzania, CCBRT opened a rehabilitation centre in Moshi in 1996. This rehabilitation centre — also known as the ‘House of Hope’—serves thousands of clients every year, including families of children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida and hydrocephalus (SBH), congenital clubfoot, and individuals with limited mobility due to a physical impairment or conditions such as polio, rickets, neglected clubfoot, and accidental trauma.

CCBRT Moshi provides rehabilitation services in a variety of locations, including at its centre as well as home visits, community supportive rehabilitation clinics in community facilities, and mobile outreach activities throughout the surrounding areas. Through this approach, CCBRT Moshi is can serve many patients from across northern, eastern and central Tanzania in Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Manyara, Singida, Tanga, Dodoma, Morogoro, Iringa, Shinyanga, Tabora and Simiyu regions. CCBRT’s work is done through partnerships with local government authorities, private organizations, faith-based organizations, Organizations for People with Disabilities (OPDs), and the Tanzanian umbrella organization SHIVYAWATA and its members for organizations for persons with disabilities.

CCBRT works closely with the government at all levels to ensure this rehabilitation work is sustainable. As the Ministry of Health (MoH) is working to deliver the first Tanzanian National Rehabilitation Strategic Plan, it is envisioned that this will result in the inclusion of disability support into government budgets at all levels. Furthermore, the prioritization at a national level will also boost the lobbying efforts to have rehabilitation services—including wheelchair provision—covered under the national health insurance scheme. With the government promoting disability inclusion, the stigma will be further reduced, and communities will be mobilized to accommodate and support people with disabilities, creating a more inclusive society.

CCBRT Moshi expertise:

CCBRT Moshi has developed vast experience and expertise in the following areas:

Support and training to parents/caregivers of children with cerebral palsy, spina bifida and hydrocephalus (SBH), so that they manage the disability, not as an inability.
Provision of the Ponseti method to babies and children born with congenital clubfoot, which can be treated with this surgery-free intervention.
Provision of postural support and mobility aids such as fitted wheelchairs and a wide variety of different types of assistive devices. This includes assessment, product customizing, fitting, user training, and follow-up.
Organization of Weeks of Intensive for children and youth and their families with SBH, to provide treatment and training on skills that promote independent living.
Home visits and community rehabilitation support units close to the patients’ homes to promote the integration of disabilities into everyday activities and disability inclusion within the Tanzanian healthcare system starting at the grassroots level.
Training and capacity building on early childhood disability identification and establishing disability referral systems for health care workers in the public and private sectors.
Capacity building of partner organizations in the community on management and rehabilitation of children with disabilities, i.e. young babies with congenital clubfoot and children with cerebral palsy, identified delayed milestones, etc.
Initiating/forming networks and platforms for lobbying and advocacy to influence government policies and development programs for Community-Based Inclusive Development (CBID).