"I miss my friends and my studies"

Isatai is 11 years old, and he lives with his parents, brother, and sister in Burundai village, Almaty region. He loves to swim, play with his friends outside and dance. Being an active child, since childhood, Isatai wishes he could walk free and play sports. He was born with Down syndrome and a congenital dislocation of both hip joints. Since the age of four, he has undergone several surgical operations.

In 2018, after another surgery, when he had just had his cast removed, a physical therapy instructor broke his leg during the procedure. The new cast was placed on the legs in the same place as it was at that time. They said that if they set the joint back, the bones might break down and crack,” says Zamira, Isatai’s mother.

Between the rooms, Isatai walks with crutches, and uses a wheelchair on the street. He is very independent, helps his mother and, as an older brother, looks after his six-year-old sister Alfia. Isatai loves to dance and knows how to do push-ups.

My dream is to get back on my feet. I dream of riding a horse. I would take a kamcha in my hands and overtake everyone! I want to help my mom, dad, and my brother,"- Isatai shares his aspirations.

Isatai has now finished the 5th grade in an inclusive program at a public school. They arrived to Burundai a few months ago, but his parents decided to transfer him to a new school at the beginning of the 2021-2022 academic year. In the Aschybulak village, where the Isatai family lived before, teachers came to their house, and his classmates visited him once a month.

“I have a lot of friends, and they were taking me with them to play. And when I was getting tired, they were bringing me back home," he says.

“When the quarantine began, they said that the teachers should not come to the students' houses anymore. Therefore, his face-to-face lessons stopped and online classes began. And where we lived and where we live now, the Internet works very poorly," Zamira shares.

According to his mother, it was very difficult to study online. Due to a weak Internet connection, it is difficult to chat even by messengers, not to mention video and audio calls. That's why, the last month of the school year, he was left without studies.

I miss my classmates and my teachers. Probably due to the fact that we have moved far away, the teachers cannot find their way to us. "Do you want me to call them by their names?" — says Isatai and begins to list his teachers and friends.

They have lived in a new place not for a long time, and Isatai has not yet had the time to get used to and make friends with the local children. That's why he is now playing with his younger sister and their kitten. His daily schedule during the school year: in the morning after breakfast - he studies a little, at lunch - games with his sister: they build houses and train their kitten, and in the evening his parents allow him to play for a few hours on a tablet.

“Now the most difficult thing is that there are no classes and he is bored at home. Because of the pandemic, there are problems with transport. That’s why we don’t have the opportunity to visit the swimming pool, a speech therapist, and a disability specialist. All of this, of course, does not have a positive impact on our lives," says Zamira.

In addition, due to the lockdown, the work of Isatai's father was suspended, which led to the loss of a permanent income. For several months, the family lived from social benefits that Isatai receives from the state.

“If the children get sick, this money will not even be enough for the medicine. After all, even a disposable mask was expensive, not to mention medicine," says Zamira.

At the beginning of 2020, Isatai got very ill and his temperature rose to 40 degrees.

There was no medicine at home. We picked up the snow from the yard and rubbed his face, his head and his body. By the time the doctors arrived, the temperature had already gone down and Isatai had finally fallen asleep. There was no need for hospitalization.

The coronavirus infection also did not bypass the Isatai family. In June 2020, the father of the family fell ill and started coughing, and then the family became infected with the virus. Isatai had a temperature of 38-39 degrees for 3 days. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased demand for anti-febrile medicines, Isatai's mother could not find these medicines in pharmacies.

We were lowering the temperature by the alcohol rubdown. After all, he still does not yet understand and does not say whether he has lost his sense of taste and smell. But we were sick with all the signs of COVID-19, says Zamira.

Isatai had a mild coronavirus infection and no complications were detected. Now he is back to actively playing with his sister at home and dreams of going to school once again in the new school year.

UNICEF supports the opening of all schools in the new academic year in compliance with sanitary and epidemiological standards. Having lost the opportunity to study offline, children have lost much more than just an access to education. For many students, the usual rhythm of life was disrupted, the possibility of live communication with friends, access to meal, and to health services disappeared. The greatest challenge was for the children with special educational needs. Unequal access to the Internet and limited individual access to a computer, as well as the lack of programmes tailored to the special needs of children, aggravated the educational crisis. When schools reopen, the interests of children from vulnerable groups should be prioritized. Special socialization programs and educational programs adapted to the needs of the most vulnerable groups will be able to guarantee every child equal access to education.

Raising the problems of the educational sphere during the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF, through partnership with the European Union, also actively supports the healthcare system of Kazakhstan by equipping it with the medicines and diagnostic devices necessary to effectively combat the coronavirus.

Funded by the European Union Humanitarian Aid. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. European Union cannot be held responsible for them.