New study sheds light on lives of disabled

Lydia Mpofu's day begins at 4.00 am when she makes the first of two trips to fetch water from a river 4 km from her home in Zezane, near the southern Zimbabwean border town of Beitbridge. Although aged 66, she then spends three back-breaking hours tending her maize crop, before returning home to care for her disabled grandson. "I have to balance my time evenly between the necessary household chores, daily work commitments and caring for him. He has been like this since he was born, seven years ago. It is difficult looking after him because he cannot do anything by himself. He needs to be washed and fed, exactly like a baby, and moved from one shade to another. If only I could get him a wheelchair," said Mpofu. Her story typifies that of families looking after the disabled. Without adequate state support, it is the extended family that shoulders the responsibility for their care and, given the depths of Zimbabwe's economic crisis, that struggle has become all the harder. The last census, in 2002, estimated that 2.9 percent of Zimbabweans were disabled. But what had not been properly documented were the actual living conditions of those with disabilities. Now, a new study by the Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD), in collaboration with the Norwegian Federation of Disabled People, has shed light on their daily lives. The report, "Living Conditions Among People with Activity Limitations in Zimbabwe, a Representative Regional Survey" sampled 22,000 people in five of the country's 10 provinces, and found the disabled were deeply disadvantaged in terms of access to education, employment and state support. Only one out of every eight respondents was receiving financial assistance. Disability and social support grants only amounted to about Zim $15,000 (US $3.75) a month, while a loaf of bread cost Zim $2,300. Three times as many disabled people - 28 percent - had never been to school, compared with just 10 percent of the non-disabled. Women faced the greatest discrimination, with 34 percent of those with disabilities never having entered a classroom. A separate analysis looked at the type of disability prevalent among those without any formal schooling and found that the largest number had sensory impairments (seeing and hearing) and communication problems. Comparisons between the rural and urban areas also revealed glaring disparities in access to education, with the disabled in rural areas facing significant challenges, noted the report. Unemployment was another area of concern. In the southern province of Matabeleland, 81 percent of the disabled were jobless, with Manicaland in the east and the central province of Midlands tied at 77 percent. Again, women were more disadvantaged than men, while "more households with one or more disabled members have no employed members, compared to households without disabled members". Despite the lack of employment opportunities, the study found that 35 percent of disabled people in the potentially economically active 15 to 65 age group had received vocational skills training, compared to only 28 percent in the non-disabled category, because special education self-help programmes were usually geared towards the disadvantaged. Surveys on the accessibility of health and education facilities for the disabled showed that 80 percent believed primary health care clinics and hospitals were accessible, while 40 percent gave schools a thumbs-up. Commenting on the findings of the survey, SAFOD secretary general Alexander Phiri said despite the lack of facilities, living conditions of people with disabilities were better in rural areas because there was a greater sense of community. He said he hoped the information gathered would be used to formulate better welfare schemes for the disabled in Zimbabwe, and added that SAFOD was working towards a regional policy to address their specific needs.