Opportunities for the disabled

Increased economic opportunities for people living with disabilities in Malawi are seen as key to improving the livelihoods of this often-marginalised group. President Bingu wa Mutharika promised to tackle falling literacy rates and widespread poverty among all Malawians, including people with disabilities, soon after he assumed power earlier this year. "There is a strong link between poverty and disability; poverty makes people more vulnerable to disability and disability deepens poverty. Boys and girls with disabilities attend schools less frequently than those with ability," Wa Mutharika said. However, the challenge would need the support of NGOs and grassroots organisations if efforts to improve the lives of the millions of disabled Malawians were to succeed, he noted. Approximately 1 percent of the country's 11 million people are physically disabled. An existing community-based project, supported by Malawi's Council for the Handicapped (Macoha) and funded by the Norwegian Association of People with Disabilities (NAD), has made significant strides in improving economic opportunities for the disabled. The project focuses on improving vocational skills among the disabled and operates in two districts of Blantyre and Machinga in southern Malawi. Since its inception in 2003 an estimated 3,000 people with disabilities in each district have registered at local community centres, where trainees are provided with a range of vocational skills including carpentry, tailoring, welding and plumbing. "A good proportion of the [disabled] people, especially the youth, have not gone to school at all for various reasons," project coordinator Elson Kambalu told IRIN. He said the majority of those with physical disabilities lived in abject poverty and earned less than Malawian Kwacha 500 (US $2.5) per month. "This translates to around MK17 a day, or US 16 cents a day ... far below the international poverty datum of at least US $1 a day," he noted. Simati Mgwira, 31, is a father of four and among the few Malawians benefiting from the NAD-sponsored project. "I have lived all these years without any proper assistance from friends and my relatives ... because I am a disabled person - one of my legs is not functioning properly. But when I heard about this project, I tried as much as possible to take part. I have been learning this tailoring course since December last year and I am now able to do the work on my own," he told IRIN. Project trainer Benard Masula said the initiative had come at a time when the majority of the disabled were desperate for assistance. "It is a dream come true to many. They had no hope, and when they heard about it they flocked in hundreds - but, unfortunately, not all can be picked for the training," he said. It is envisaged that the project will extend from 90 people at present to 300 trainees by 2005. A similar project has empowered the disabled in Malawi's central region. "We have so many beggars in the streets, and people look at us as hopeless individuals who cannot help ourselves. To avoid that kind of mentality I have decided that I should do something in life," said Elube Jastini, who is doing a six-month tailoring course. She told IRIN that once she finished the training she would open her own business. "I have a family and I do not have one arm, but this does not mean that I cannot work. I am attending this course because I want to be independent," she said.