Absame* is ten years old and learning to walk again after Polio spread through his body, taking the use of his legs. A prosthetic limb, shipped from Switzerland and assembled by hand at a rehabilitation centre in Mogadishu, has given him something close to a future he thought he had lost.
He is one of the lucky ones. Somalia has just three physical rehabilitation centres for a population of around 18 million people. Between 200,000 and 250,000 individuals are estimated to need long-term rehabilitation in a country where landmines still maim, conflict still rages and preventable diseases continue to leave children with permanent disabilities.
