Toukhtik, 21 years old, lives in the Bolikhan District of Borikhamxay, one of the poorest regions of Lao PDR. She suffers from epilepsy since the age of 12.  This has had a huge impact on her life, preventing her from going to school.

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Getting the proper treatment was not easy; the family invested a lot of their income buying medicine for her. Although both parents are primary school teachers and have a better income than many people in their village, Toukhtik’s illness has put them under huge financial pressure.As she had no ongoing support and no one to tell her she should continue her treatment, she eventually stopped it as she didn’t see an improvement. ‘’I lost most of my friends, I felt like an alien.’’  said Toukhtik.

Things finally changed for Toukhtik when BasicNeeds established their mental health and development project in the Borikhamxay district. The big difference was that, at this point, BasicNeeds had held consultation meetings in the district with local representatives of many different sectors and had conducted training on how to properly diagnose and treat mental illnesses and epilepsy with the volunteers and medical staff. This meant that Toukhtik, by now nineteen years old, was finally able to receive regular treatment and ongoing support in her own district. Through the Livelihoods part of BasicNeeds’ programme, she and her mother also received training on how to grow vegetables and produce organic compost. They were also taught to take care of livestock. ‘’They gave us 15 chickens, who have had babies so now we have 27,’’ says Toukhtik. This livelihoods training and support has made a considerable difference to the family’s weekly budget.

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Source: Delphine O’Keeffe, Communications volunteer with BasicNeeds Lao PDR, April 2012​