HOW CAN WE EMPOWER DISABLED AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN FROM POOR FAMILIES IN RURAL AFRICA???? WELCOME!  

MWAMBULI DISABLED SELF HELP GROUP

LOCATION- MALAVA KENYA  EAST  AFRICA                                            

P.O BOX 74

MALAVA    KENYA-EAST AFRICA

CONTACT PERSON;     SAMUEL TSIMBWELA

E-MAIL- mwa_disabledgroup@yahoo.com

MWAMBULI DISABLED SELF HELP GROUP BACKGROUND INFORMATION.

Mwambuli Disabled Self Help Group (MSHD) is a Community-based organization (CBO) founded in 2003 by 5 disabled members from East Kabras division of Kakamega North district, Western province We are currently over 50 members including 34 children.. The CBO is legally registered under the Ministry of Gender and Social Services, NO-KAK/DSS/SHG/996/006. The members formed this group so as to addressing the challenges affecting them as PWDs and to identify interventions that could help them live productive lives. These challenges include but are not limited to:

1. Lack of accessibility to affordable medical care and therapy centre for timely rehabilitation, treatment and surgery.
2. High levels of poverty and deprivation (With 46% of the population in Kakamega North district totaling 245,000 living under absolute poverty). PWDs form the poor of the poor. An estimated 2,450 PWDs live under these conditions of indignity lacking in economic empowerment, income generating activities (IGAs), employment, and high level illiteracy.
3. Health challenges including HIV/AIDS and the lack of well equipped and functioning health facilities in the area
4. Increase in the number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), widows especially due to HIV AIDS.
5. Food insecurity due to reduced production of stable foodstuffs.
6. Social challenges of stigmatization and discrimination in education, training, employment and resource allocation due to traditional biases and beliefs.
7. Lack of children/educational services to provide students with a safe, nurturing environment that promotes learning and encourages each student to reach their fullest potential. The need for a team of experts, consisting of special education teachers, therapists, psychologists, social workers and medical professionals, to provide children, from birth to age 21.

Most of the disabled people in the western part of the country suffer from lack of information on available therapy or treatment, poverty and stigmatization which when combined hinder them from seeking early intervention hence leads to permanent disabilities.

One of our major objectives was to speak out for disabled and recruit members to join the group. We begun as five members and now over 50.This has been a major success given that disability is stigmatized even more than HIV and parents would hide children in their houses for fear to be associated with a disabled child.

We have also been successful in trying to address some of the objectives like linking members to organization that can support in treatment like to St Jude program, been able to secure mobility tools for members like wheel chairs

OBJECTIVES

 The objectives of our group includes

·         To mobilize resources for establishment of a referral centre for therapy and treatment of various disabilities

·         In the meantime to mobilize resources for medical needs of disabled children e.g. for corrective surgery

·         In the meantime to mobilize resource to support the children to specialized schools

·         Mobilize resource for establishment of a disability specialized school especially Mental disability for the children with special needs. This is due to the number we have in our group.

·         To carry out awareness and advocacy campaign on disability issues like stigmatization, their rights, employment, business etc

·         To identify people with different disabilities in the area and its surroundings

·         To identify the mobility and various other needs  for disabled and apply for

·         To improve the skills of the disabled and enhance their self reliance

·         Networking and exchange programs with other organizations 

·         Capacity building on gender sensitivity, HIV/AIDS in people with disability..

·         To offer assistance to disabled person all the time

·         To raise the living standards of the disabled people by initiating projects that will generate income e.g. building resource centre.

·         To mobilize resource for establishment of special schools and skills centers for the disabled 

   ACHIEVEMENTS

·         We have rapidly grown in membership form five to 50 and we are still recruiting with an aim of covering the whole western part of the country although our membership is still within a small location in the district.

·         We have been vocal in issues that affect disabled people and now our member sits on the Malava town council committee.

·         We have managed to train some of our members in income generating activities like shoe repair.

·         Also managed to secure small loans for our members to improve their income activities

·         We have managed to network with other organizations like the A.P.D.K, D.E.R.O to provide mobility aids like wheel chairs, tricycles and crutches to members.

·         We have managed to refer some members to other organizations for medical and school fees e.g. to St. Jude program for the disabled.

·         We have encouraged membership from both gender and ages. 

CHALLENGES

We have encountered many challenges in the process that include the following among others.

·         Limited financial resources mainly from member contribution who are mostly from very poor families

·         Stigmatization from the community

·         Mobility problem for members

·         Lack of accessible treatment and therapy centers and the cost of transport to the hospitals which are located very far from members.

·         Lack of a secretariat to manage our issues. We do not have a permanent place to operate and we do our business under premises of well wishers or under a tree.

·         Lack of information and education to our members. Most disabled people and children have not had a privilege of going to school as parents hide them in houses till they are passed school age.

·         Poverty levels among disabled are very high.

·         HIV pandemic among members and the community in general

·         Lack of support from the influential members of the community who look down upon the disabled.

·         Rough and poor physical location away from main town and other facilities. 

 SOURCES OF FUNDS

·         Membership contributions

·         Small scale Poultry farming by members

·         Ministry of youth affairs that gives some loans to our members

·         Small grants W.R.C.C.S

 AREAS OF INTEREST 

We formed the group so that we can make a difference in the lives of disabled people and especially for the disabled to come after us. We have gone through many challenges as disabled and would wish those to come after us to have a better life that is not full of stigmatization, illiteracy, poverty and lack of medication like we did.

We therefore believe and wish that as a group together with other well wishers, we shall be able to

·         Establish a centre of excellence that shall provide therapy and treatment services to disabled including surgery. Some of our members are still disabled from simple disabilities that would have been corrected if such facility was available e.g. club foot.

·         To establish a special schools that will ensure that our disabled children get education which is the best empowerment for the future. The school shall not end at primary but if possible to a disability university.

·         Become the centre of referral of children to various institutions where they can access the opportunities and the various supports we cannot offer.

·         Be the first institution to establish a university for the disabled.

·         Provide the database of all disabled children in the western part of Kenya to all stakeholders who need such information.

·         Organize campaigns and fight stigmatization and for the rights of disabled in Kenya and possible Africa.

·         Link the disabled children to individual and organization sponsors who may want to directly support such children for medical, education, skills training among other needs.

·         In the mean time mobilize resources for support of these children to get education and medication elsewhere by linking them to individual or organizations that can support them.

·         Establish a micro financing organization to address the needs of people with disability to support them in business across the western Kenya region.

·         To strengthen the advocacy campaign for disabled including employment and other stigmatization issues.

·         To promote income generating activities for adults living with disabilities through training, marketing and financing of the activities across the region. 

FOR ANY SUPPORT IN TERMS OF IDEAS AND RESOURCE OR ENQUIRIES PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US  on mwa_disabledgroup@yahoo.com

Thanks and God bless you!