Children with disabilities should not lose hope

By Chali Mulenga

"A child with living with a disability is a gift from God and it is only the creator that knows the future of a child,” says Erica Kalipi a mother of child living with disability.

Ms Kalipi a 20 year old mother two children says she is amazed with the things that she has learned in caring for her son.

 The confident mother states in the amazing words that it is only God the creator who knows why some of the things that people go through happen.

Ms Kalipi, who lives in Ngwezi fishing camp in Kazungula narrates that she is proud to be a mother of Manuel Viemba who is four years old this year.

 She says mothers that are living with children with disabilities should not lose hope but should have confidence that God will see them through the challenges of life.     

Medical experts say Viemba has cerebral palsy (CP) which is a general term for a group of permanent, movement problems that do not get worse over time. They cause physical disability, mainly in the areas of body movement.

 This amazing child, Viemba’s smile is quite healing and comforting that the child can still find happiness even with his disability.

 Viemba’s confidence proves that moment in the mother’s life that real mothers always have a real effect on their children just through their touch that reaches their hearts. 

Ms Kalipi has certainly shown that the power of love can inspire the whole community.

She explains that initially as parents, they did not suspect that the child had a disability as the only thought that crossed their mind is that is their child had been bewitched.

 “My son was born like this with disability, we though he had been bewitched and we never thought that this is a medical condition,” she said.

Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the motor control centers of the developing brain and can occur during pregnancy, during childbirth, or after birth up to about age three.

Ms Kalipi said she delivered the child at home in the village and adds that her labour was prolonged which resulted in her delayed delivery.

She said the child did not cry when the baby was delivered as it took some time.

Ms Kalipi said the family has received support of the community based rehabilitation programme volunteers through the use of the insight they get on how to manage their son’s disability.

 “When my son was three years old we began giving him a lot of exercises after we were enlightened by the CBR volunteers, we have also learned that it was not about witchcraft but it was a medical condition as they are a lot child that are like in society,” she said.

 She said she was grateful to the CBR programme for the help it had given the family through the volunteers.

Ms Kalipi advised the parents with children living with disability to love them despite it not being easy.

“We must pray to God so that he can give us wisdom on how we are going to manage the gift the child God has given us, I proud to say that my husband has been supportive of in taking of the child, as parents we should not neglect the child,” Ms Kalipi said.

Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) is a Non-Governmental Organisation which promotes the rights of disabled people with support from the Norwegian Association for persons with Disabilities (NAD).

A CBR volunteer in the fishing camp, Ryen Mulauo said after he acquired training from CBR, he felt duty bound to help the family by making routine visits to the family in order to teach the family on what type of exercise they could do to the baby.

A physiotherapist at the Livingstone General Hospital, Rose Mulamba said she was impressed that the child had been introduced to the exercise because they would be helpful in assisting him to play.

She said the history of his mother certainly could have led to this disability.

However, a mother in Sibbulo village in chief Sekute’s area in Kazungula is not as lucky as the husband has divorced her on the basis that the child is not his for the reason that she has Hydrocephalus.  

A visit to their village proved the child has been neglected as the mother does not time to seek any medical intervention.

Hydrocephalus also known as "water on the brain” is a medical condition in which there is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the ventricles, or cavities, of the brain.

 You might wonder who this is mother; it is 33 year old Kahimbi Musala, who is mother to four year old Kahimbi.

Ms Kahimbi says she had no money to take her child for medical help adding that she was has been too busy the child to the hospital.

She said the child fails to walk properly as the head is big.

“It was difficult for me to take the child to the hospital because I did not have any money to take the child to Lusaka or Livingstone for further management of the child,” she said.

The peasant farmer said as she had not sort any medical help the shanty has not put in the child to help drain the water from the brain to the bladder.

She said the problem was only identified about two years ago when she took her child to Mwandi mission hospital where the doctors revealed that it Hydrocephalus.

This may cause increased intracranial pressure inside the skull and progressive enlargement of the head, convulsion, tunnel vision, and mental disability. Hydrocephalus can also cause death. It is more common in infants, although it can occur in older adults.

“I will only be able to take her to the hospital if I find money as she is too heavy for me to carry her and when I find time, and my husband after I had this child I suspected that the child was his,” she said.

 She said that she has five children with the same man that divorced her.

She said the man has neglected all the children and does not want to give them any support.

“It has been difficult for me to focus on the child that is living with disabilities as I am the sole bread winner of all the children,” she said.

And the physiotherapist from Livingstone General Hospital said there is need to continue monitoring the growth of the head and so that the some intervention could be put in place.

 Ms Mulamba told the mother to continue measuring the head of the child so other medical experts can also make decisions.

“The reason why the child is failing to balance her walking is that the head and the body weight are failing to match,” she said.

 She however wondered why the mother of the child was so busy that she could not attend to the welfare of the child’s disability.

And Livingstone Network of People Living with Disabilities George
Mizinga says parents that get divorced on the basis of a child’s disability should be visited by the law for neglecting such a child.

“Parents who divorce on the basis of a disability of their child should be punished as they give a burden to society as once a child is not empowered they will end up begging on the streets of the town or village  where they are living,” he said.

 Mr Mizinga said the community should take full responsibility by reporting such people to the law enforcement officers.

 And Media networking on child rights and development project manager Prisca Sikana has urged parents with child living with disabilities to take care of their welfare because the children are the future leaders.

Ms Sikana said the parents that do not take of children should know that denying them a child care that they deserve is a form of abuse.

 “Children need all the support that can be given to them adding that parents that have children that are living with disabilities should ensure they take extra care of their children,” she said.

The Child rights activist said children are potential national leaders adding that it was for this reason that they deserve to be cherished

Ms Sikana said it was unacceptable to neglect them as doing so would be tantamount to abusing their rights.

She said it is sad that some parents were divorcing on the pretext on the child had a disability.

Ms Sikana paid tribute to the parents that were taking of their children despite them living with a disability.

She urged the parents to be role models in society so that others could learn from them.  

 End

The author is a freelance journalist based in Livingstone, who writes on social issues with a focus on disability.  For comments email: infoiweza@gmail.com