Woes For Persons With Disability Amid A Global Pandemic and Poor Living Conditions

People living with disabilities fear being exposed to the Coronavirus as they use common ablutions in Cinderella village, Hwange. Image by Doug Maloney | Unsplash

by Rutendo Mapfumo

In a community where common ablution facilities are the norm and water is scarce, a global pandemic is a scare. When the same community has people with disabilities, existing barriers to access to services are worsened.

HWANGE, September 22, 2020. (The Citizen Bulletin) — MARIA Mwanza (66) is among the women living with disability in Cinderella village who are finding the going tough during the COVID -19 pandemic era, her living conditions in Cinderella village are putting her at risk of contracting the virus.

Patched roads, small houses with broken windows are some of the visible scenery in this old location.  Small green grass surrounds the burst water pipes which have been laying idle for ages, the ground is decorated with human made streams and water holes which are used to water the gardens and clean the common ablutions.

“The use of common ablution is putting us at risk not only to coronavirus but other diseases as well, the toilets are not friendly to use, they don’t have ramps. It also does not have balancing pillars for us who are not physically able bodied, I am always on the verge of falling down because common ablution facilities are slippery because of dirt,” says Mwanza.

Mwanza says the pandemic has added salt to the wound as she relies mostly on others to move her as well as external help to fetch water.

“These days it is tough as no one is willing to extend help because of the unavailability of water in the common bathrooms as well as the toilets, some avoid maintaining physical contact with me, fearing the coronavirus.”
Maria Mwanza, 66-year-old woman living with a disability

Persons with disabilities face discrimination and exclusion from services. Today, as the COVID-19 pandemic rages around the world, the barriers faced by people living with disability are also on the rise.

While COVID-19 pandemic threatens all members of society, persons with a disability are disproportionately affected due to attitudinal and institutional barriers that are being reproduced by the COVID-19 response.

The National Council for the Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe (NCFDPZ) Hwange Chapter Secretary Rosemary Maketo says their dire situation needs immediate intervention from the corporate world and the government as a whole.

“We are one of the groups of people who are vulnerable in the community we are living in. Of late we have been surviving through handouts from well-wishers, now we are failing to access sanitisers to clean our homes and ourselves since we are always mingling in common ablution,” she says.

Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) as part of its corporate social responsibility has housed a number of people living with disability in one of its villages known as Cinderella  although the village needs some touch ups for it to be conducive.

“Although we really appreciate efforts made by HCCL in accommodating us, more needs to be done for the people living with disability in terms of making them stay in more hygienic homes,” she says.

Cinderella village accommodates more than 1,000 people and the whole area is known for water scarcity.

Cinderella Village is well known for water scarcity. Image by Jouni Rajala | Unsplash

“Water is only available for two hours every day, and in those two hours people push and pull each other to fetch the water. It is then difficult for us to fetch water in such an environment,” says Maketo.

Maketo went on and appealed to HCCL to provide them with better houses with toilets within the houses.

Meanwhile, Steve Chisose the Ward 10 Councilor of Cinderella Village says People living with Disability in Hwange need assistance in the fight against coronavirus. He says his office once approached the HCCL to assist the people living with disability but it was all in vain.

“We have asked the HCCL to assist this vulnerable group with service delivery, but it is pointless because they say their core business is mining.”
Steve Chisose, Cinderella Councilor

The councilor says the working ablutions are always congested when there is water.

“HCCL provides water only for a few hours, no social distancing is maintained during the fetching of water, the time is limited and the taps which have running water are few, which as a result disadvantage the people living with disability,” says Chisose.

Cinderella village has 23 Common ablutions, among them only a few function and none are conducive to use for people living with disability.

Hwange Colliery Company Limited has embarked on a number of prevention and control strategies; they have set up operational teams that spearhead the various activities in controlling COVID-19.

Efforts to get a comment from the HCCL Corporate Manager Rugare Dhobbie on the use of common ablution and the welfare of people with disabilities were fruitless as she was unavailable to comment.

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), globally 1 in 7 have a disability yet their needs are overlooked, efforts must be made to ensure people with disability retain support of essential caretakers and trusted service providers. In their COVID-19 socio-economic framework report, the UN identifies integrating disability inclusion and rights in the COVID-19 response as a priority action for the country.

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