Chronic lung disease boy who yearns to go to school has ray of hope

Khalifa, 6, who has chronic lung diseases and must have an oxygen cylinder with him at all times, was given hope by Adec after other schools said he required special-needs education, something contested by his Saudi Arabian parents.

Khalifa, the six-year-old Saudi, yearns to go to school but his family possibly cannot afford to pay for a nurse. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National

ABU DHABI // A boy whose medical condition makes it difficult for him to go to school has been told he can get an education, as long as he has a nurse by his side.

Khalifa, 6, who has chronic lung diseases and must have an oxygen cylinder with him at all times, was given hope by Abu Dhabi Education Council after other schools said he required special-needs education, something contested by his Saudi Arabian parents.

His medical reports and care givers said he was a normal boy whose only obstacle was the oxygen cylinder.

However, the one stumbling block is that Khalifa’s family cannot afford to pay for a nurse and their insurance does not cover such services.

Umm Khalifa, who has eight other children, said that if it were not for the generosity of her Emirati relative the family would not have held together.

“My husband goes to Saudi Arabia for months to sell fabric and do odd jobs. When he returns – sometimes after three or four months – he will have made about Dh4,000,” she said.

The money her husband makes every few months and Dh1,500 they receive each month from a local charity is all she has to tend to nine children, but the couple said that they were grateful.

“At least I don’t pay rent. My aunt is generous to give us this two-bedroom extension to live in and she sends us food every day,” said Umm Khalifa.

Khalifa’s father is confident that his son would get the education he deserved because of an old decree that he be issued an Emirati passport.

“All my children were born in Abu Dhabi and I’ve been living here for more than 30 years. This is our home more than Saudi Arabia is,” he said.

The decree issued to him in 1997 by the Ministry of Interior has made the family eligible for Thiqa insurance cards.

A hospital employee said: “The cards the family have are grade 4 cards, which covers treatment at government hospitals and the use of all facilities for free. They can be issued medical equipment for free but their insurance does not cover home care.”

Khalifa was also sent abroad for treatment when he was born.

“The Sheikhs are very generous. I am sure that they will make an exception for us and upgrade our insurance plan,” the father said.

He is planning to write a letter to the Crown Prince Court to ask if his son might be given a nurse. “We just want a nurse during the school hours, to help my son get into school,” he said.

Khalifa’s mother, who has no formal education, said that her son cried each morning when he saw his siblings set off for school and he could not go.

“His bag is always in his hand and he is always crying. He sees that now I am going to school and tells me, ‘Even you, mum, are going to school and I can’t’,” she said.

“I don’t know what to do if they don’t give us a nurse. I guess schools are not ready for children like my son. Khalifa will just have to stay home.”