Zimpapers Logo

Facebook, Twitter and Whatsup. Others take pictures and videos of the first steps a child takes as they attempt to walk.

It indeed is a special moment that any parent would want to experience and talk about. But, for others like Mrs Lorraine Mujaji of Chikanga in Mutare such happy tales are for others.

Her tales are not of joy, but of the pain she experiences when she watches her son go through a “hellish” life each day.
Her son, Tinashe (15), has severe cerebral palsy and has been confined to his wheelchair for years.

Cerebral palsy is a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development chiefly in the various areas of body movement.

It is caused by damage to the motor control centres of the developing brain and can occur during childbirth or after birth up to the age of three.
A 2007 six-country survey conducted in the US found an incidence of CP of 2,12 to 2,45 per 1 000 live births indicating a slight rise in recent years.

For Tinashe, the condition has left him with speech and language disorders, involuntary movements and weakness.
He cannot walk or run with other children his age, eat solid food, bath or go to the toilet on his own.

Despite Zimbabwe having policies and legislation in place guaranteeing universal primary education for disabled children like Tinashe, this is not happening as the schools to cater for such severe conditions are few and where available sometimes extremely  expensive.

On the other hand, the Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises the human rights of all children, including those with disabilities under Article 23 which states “State parties recognise that a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community.”

Article 13 of the ACRWC also states: “Every child who is mentally or physically disabled shall have the right to special measures of protection in keeping with his physical and moral needs and under conditions which ensure his dignity, promote his self-reliance and active participation in the community.”

Sadly, despite Government and international efforts to have children like Tinashe in school and enjoy basic human rights, he has never been to any sort of school as there are none to cater for his severe condition in Mutare.

Many other children with his condition in Chikanga also do not go to school and spend their life glued to wheelchairs and in the company of their mothers.
“We once visited the school of psychology and told them that my son is not in school to see if they could help. They told me to go to King George VI in Bulawayo where he could be enrolled.

“I could not go there because I stay too far from Bulawayo. In fact, it would be expensive for us to take him there as we are poor,” says Tinashe’s mother, Mrs Mujaji.
Tinashe, she says, needs round the clock attention and she has to be always there for him.
Her life now only revolves around him, she cannot go out to fend for the family.

“It becomes difficult each day because he has to eat special food since he cannot chew properly. I feed him with mashed potatoes and porridge. Sometimes I do not have money to buy potatoes and peanut butter making his life more difficult,” she laments.

Since Tinashe cannot go to the toilet on his own, he requires diapers, which are sometimes not available.
When the situation is bad, his mother uses nappies and cloths.

Tinashe’s mother belongs to a support group, Zimbabwe Parents of Handicapped Children Association (ZPHCA) Mutare branch.
Under this group many mothers of children with severe disabilities meet to offer psychological support to each other.

Another member of the group, Thandiwe Chirumiko, whose daughter Shylet also has cerebral palsy, says their children face serious stigma in the communities they hail from.
The stigma, she says, starts with family as Shylet’s father abandoned them when he discovered she was disabled.

She says it is sad that many people often believe that children with disabilities only face food, sanitary and education challenges. Accommodation, she says is one of the major challenges faced by disabled children with parents who do not own homes.

“I remember when we found a room to rent at a certain house in Chikange. I never told the landlord that my daughter is disabled and moved in the same night.
“Upon noticing that Shylet has severe cerebral palsy, the landlord said she could not stay with us and gave us back our money the following morning.

“I have also come across people who will agree to rent out their homes but call me a few hours later to decline my offer. This usually happens when they hear that my daughter is disabled. I have learnt to live with such and am happy that we have somewhere to stay now,” she bemoaned.

Jenny Deke, whose son also has severe cerebral palsy said, the families need a good source of income to sustain themselves and take care of their children’s                  needs.

“The United Nations Children’s Fund once sponsored a programmed that resulted in mothers with disabled children receiving sewing and knitting machines for our project a few years back. The machines broke down and we do not know what to do,” said Deke.

She adds that the only way they have currently devised to raise money to buy diapers and other needs is through putting money as little as US$20 per month in a pool. Those in dire need of it that month can borrow and return it with a little interest. The borrowed money is, however, never enough to cater for their disabled children’s needs as they are too complex.

For now, their situation is between a rock and a hard place. They just put everything in God’s hands, hoping that one day, their children’s situation will be better one day. It’s not all gloom as other children like Tashinga whose cerebral palsy is not too serious have had an opportunity to attend school.

Tashinga and other children with disabilities, including mental illness, Down’s syndrome and autism are in two Resource Unit classes, RU1 and RU2 at Zamba Primary School also in Mutare.

In these classes, the children between eight and 21 years are taught basic life skills, reading and writing, athletics among other activities. The children in RU1 have serious handicaps, but not as severe as Tinashe’s, while those in RU2 have mild handicaps, says the RU2 teacher

Mirriam Gondo, who is a psychologist, said most of the children in her class are from poor families and do not have proper school uniforms.
“Some come to school wearing torn uniforms, others do not have jerseys and have to endure this cold weather,” she said.

The classrooms do not have adequate learning materials like blocks, colouring books and chairs. The children learn while sitting on the carpet.
Acting school head Mrs Enery Dzumbira said the disabled children’s fees are paid through the Basic Assisted Education Modul, though sadly they have not received any payment in the past three years.

Luckily for these children, the school has not turned them away for non- payment of the fees.
Teacher-in-charge Mrs Fenny Mudede said some disabled children’s performance in the RU classes had improved resulting in the school moving them to the main Grade 1 classes.

Tinashe and many children with cerebral palsy in Zimbabwe and worldwide face similar challenges daily. While it is somewhat difficult to determine precise data on population of children living with a disability in Zimbabwe, the 2002 census says there are 349 000 people with disabilities living in Zimbabwe almost 25 percent of whom were under the age of 19 at the time of the census.

The World Health Organisation data suggests that up to 10 percent of the total population of each country may have some form of disability; by this estimate more than 600 000 children in Zimbabwe may have a disability, however, this includes minor disabilities which do not significantly impair functioning, as well as more profound disability.
Zimbabwe will on June 30 patiently awaits the launch of the State of the World Children’s Report 2013 whose theme is “Children with Disabilities”.

Too often, children with disabilities experience stigma from birth and are more prone to exclusion, concealment, abandonment, institutionalisation and abuse. Compared to their peers, they are routinely denied access to health, education and social services. They are often excluded from opportunities to participate in their communities, and are more vulnerable to violence and abuse.

HIV positive children with disabilities are less likely to receive treatment than non-disabled children (Akwara et al 2010) while children with disabilities are less likely to go to school than their non-disabled peers and disabled girls are likely to find their access to education even more limited (Lang and Charowa 2007; Eide et al 2003) Unicef says they promote the principle of inclusiveness in all its work.

“For children with disabilities this means systematically addressing and incorporating measures that challenge discrimination and promote equality of opportunity for children with disabilities into all programmatic, operational and organisational activities. Specialist assistance which ensures equity for all children in realising their rights will be offered.”

With such global interest and awareness on disability issues, hopefully stories of children with disabilities being among the most marginalised and excluded groups of children will become fewer.

l Feedback: [email protected]