Cracked feet, shattered lives Tawanda Mudimu

cold weather conditions, lives a family which has distinctive features caused by a certain skin diseases which they don’t have any clue about.
Living in ramshackle dwellings typical of the Chimusasa area, they struggle to make ends meet and have gone for years crying out for help in a remote area where most residents find it hard to eke a living for various reasons.
Tears could be seen in the eyes of Lonica Kembo, a single mother of two daughters, one son and four grandchildren, as she prepared herself to narrate the calamity that has befallen her family.
They suffer from a disease known as keloids, a rare disease which deforms hands and feet as they develop additional skin under their feet and in their hands.
According to www.medicinenet.com,a keloid “is a tough heaped-up scar that rises quite abruptly above the rest of the skin. It usually has a smooth top and a pink or purple colour. Keloids are irregularly shaped and tend to enlarge progressively.”
Dressed in a grey top with a filthy purple skirt and bandages on the ankles and knees to protect herself from the rough surface, Ms Kembo sobers as she narrates her cardinal problem.
Ms Kembo is expectant, in her overally stoical demeanour.
She hopes someday a Messiah or knight in shining armour will come walking straight to her homestead.
She has in mind a similar visit by a weekly paper which had raised her hopes that the outside world could be touched by her plight and extend a helping hand.
“Once featured in The Sunday Mail, we thought the heavens had opened up for us and help was at the door step, but we were disappointed months went by without hearing from anyone, not even some feedback except donors who brought us some wheelchairs and food- stuffs.
Confusing this paper with its sister paper The Sunday Mail, she said: “When you left, every time we heard the sound of the bus coming we would stumble and crawl to rough dust road hoping to meet people who thought had come to assist us but we then realised these were just hopes and imagination.
“We are living in difficult conditions, we were just looking in the horizon when you disappeared last time but nothing besides the organisation which gave us wheelchairs and foodstuffs came through for us,” she said.
Ms Kembo attributes their lack of recognition and assistance to unavailability of transport as there is only one bus that plies the Harare route twice a week and the unavailability of communication network in the area.
Ms Kembo says of her sorry condition: “My knees now resemble elephant hooves as I walk about 10 kilometres on daily basis in the rough mountainous areas with sharp-edged stones with a bucket on my head in search of the precious water”.
“Our life is one of begging day and night for each and everything that reaches our stomachs.
“Surely, l thank God for we have some few good Samaritans in this area who find it possible to give, from the little they have,” said Mrs Kembo.
Her eldest daughter, Chisina, can use the sewing machine and their hope is that if they can get a sewing machine she will be able to make clothes for people from the neighbourhood for a return which would go a long way in meeting their needs.
They hope a sewing machine can stop them from begging and become industrious that’s turning their misfortune around.
But all is shrouded in mystery, which borders on despair.
“Is God going to have mercy on us? Now we are surviving on piece jobs. One of my daughters, Chisina, used to cross to Mozambique to do work for food she normally came with tomatoes we swapped with maize meal and had something to put in our stomach.
“She dumped that idea when our neighbour was killed by a crocodile while crossing the river to Mozambique, so now we are venturing into firewood.
“We fetch firewood hoping to sell it but the problem is we can’t get enough for resale and to use at home.
“Our problems are increasing by the day; maybe we can say we are in trying times but when is all this going to end?” asked Ms Kembo rhetorically.
The heartless community around has been hostile, believing the family is cashing in on disability.
The community is insensitive to their plight because of jealousy.
Said Ms Kembo: “We are being victimised because we appeared in the media and now people are sidelining us from receiving any help even from donors who come here.
“Most of the villagers here say we have benefited much because of our disabilities to the extent that even there is an NGO which came here with rice and they just skipped us, not because of our situation but people around here had spread rumours that we have lots of donors that are pouring goods on us yet the only donor who came here brought us wheelchairs and some consumables.
“We are not using our wheelchairs anymore because we are afraid that we might lose them,” she said.