Life for a disabled child can be extremely difficult.  Apart from the hardships of everyday life, there is usually very little access to any medical care when needed and little education about the need or possibility of treating certain conditions.  Getting to and from school, on steep mountain tracks, can be impossible for a disabled child.  In addition there may be a belief that suffering from a disability is a punishment from a previous incarnation and therefore does not require treatment.

Most of the disabilities that the children at New Life suffer from would be entirely preventable or treatable in a western culture. 

Severe burns to young children are a common occurrence in rural areas.  Parents are forced to go out to work and may have to leave babies in the care of other very young children.  The communal living space in the house includes a stove with an open fire into which the children can easily fall.  Untreated burns frequently result in severe contractures causing loss of mobility and deformity.
Accidental injuries are very often not treated because medical help may be several days walk away.  Fractured limbs and wounds may be left to heal on their own accord resulting in deformity and chronic infection that may necessitate later amputation.
 

Birth defects may be hereditary or can sometimes be caused by mothers, who through lack of education, unwittingly take medication or toxic substances during the pregnancy that cause damage to the growing foetus.
Polio is also a common disease in Nepal and many children suffer from post polio syndrome.