Khadija is eleven. Born with a spinal deformity and congenital hip dislocation, she has difficulty walking.
She lives in Mafraq, away from her parents, with her grandfather, who cares for her despite being unwell himself.
These are the facts, and there are not many of them. The story is brief because the available facts demand a brief, honest telling.
“The difference between a chair that must be pushed and one she can operate herself is the difference between being taken somewhere and choosing to go.”
What we do know is this: Khadija had a wheelchair, and the ground around her home is dirt and stone. On terrain like that, a manual chair does not truly belong to the child sitting in it; it belongs to whoever is strong enough to push it.
Through the Goodwill Campaign and its partners, Khadija received a powered wheelchair.
The film from that day is made up of ordinary moments. A box is opened and parts are unwrapped. Two men kneel on the concrete to fit the seat and footrests. A woman supports Khadija as she moves into the chair. Someone crouches beside her to explain the controls.
Then Khadija moves forward on her own - across the yard, in the direction she chooses and at her own pace, with no one behind her.
That is the entire change, and it is anything but small. For a child who cannot walk, the difference between a chair that must be pushed and one she can operate herself is the difference between being taken somewhere and choosing to go.
Khadija is eleven. What she received was more than mobility: it was the freedom to decide where she would go next.
