adminTalent Chimutambgi and Nesia Mhaka
THE Jairos Jiri Association has bemoaned the shortage of accommodation at its Harare workshop, which it says is affecting disabled persons who visit it for artificial limb measuring and fitting.
In an interview with The Herald on Monday, national executive director Mr Wilson Ruvere revealed that there was need for the construction of accommodation facilities at the workshop since the manufacture of artificial limbs took almost a week.
“We need assistance to construct houses for both the disabled and their relatives who accompany them,” said Mr Ruvere. “The processes take three to four days since there are several stages which are involved in the making of artificial limbs, so sometimes parents end up stranded and have to sleep in the open.
“When people require limbs they have to come for measuring because they are made according to the user’s size and height.”
The workshop is situated along Birmingham and Lobengula streets, south of the Harare Central Business District.
Mr Ruvere said the bush surrounding the workshop also posed a danger as people were being ambushed and robbed of their belongings.
He expressed concern at how disabled persons in Cyclone Idai-hit areas were failing to access donations, adding that they had visited all affected areas in a bid to assist the physically challenged.
Mr Ruvere spoke of various projects which the association was spearheading to assist disabled persons in all provinces despite a myriad of challenges they were facing.
“In Mashonaland East we constructed a school which now has an enrolment of more than 500 pupils. In various centres we set up craft shops to enable them (disabled people) to exhibit their craftsmanship,” he said. “They mix with able-bodied persons so that they get assistance.”
Online Reporter