Chronicle Editor
Yoliswa Dube-Moyo, Matabeleland South Bureau Chief
FOR Lister Nkomo and her family, receiving a wheelchair for the first time in her life at 15 meant they could finally check it off their bucket list.
It meant she could now easily move around and gain some form of independence.
However, the joy quickly fizzled as the family of nine from Gwanda’s oldest township, Jahunda, had to go back home to face reality.
Theirs is a continual search for odd jobs in order to make ends meet and Lister has to tag along too.
Although Lister now has an assistive device, she requires constant care as she sometimes suffers epileptic seizures, that is why her mother has to take her with her when she goes to work.
Narrating her ordeal to Chronicle, Lister’s mother, Ms Pauline Mlangeni said her daughter was about two years old when she developed paediatric paralysis.
“Lister started to lose function of her limbs when she was two years and five months old. She can’t speak clearly and needs help using the toilet. She always needs me close by. There’s no one I can leave her with, which makes it difficult for me to look for piece jobs. I was given this wheelchair so that I can move around with her when I’m working. The wheels don’t lose pressure so I can move around with her easily,” said Ms Mlangeni.
She said Lister had no visible physical abnormalities when she was born but she started noticing some changes when she was about two years old.
“She just lost function of her right hand and at that point, doctors recommended physiotherapy. The physiotherapy was however not useful as her condition continued to deteriorate. I don’t know what her condition is called but when she was doing physiotherapy, I noticed that she would swell each time so I decided that she should stop doing it. She has never walked since then,” said Ms Mlangeni.
Lister has never been to school because her mother fears that if she suffers an epileptic seizure when there’s no one around who knows how to manage her, she might get hurt.
“I usually hold her until it passes. She’s also not going to school because I can’t afford diapers. She would need diapers because she can’t go to the toilet on her own,” said Ms Mlangeni.
Lister is the last born of seven children and her family has over the years been pooling funds together to stay afloat.
“I’m not formally employed; I do piece jobs. Sometimes people ask me to wash their clothes, iron, tend their gardens or gather firewood for them. But these days it’s dry, people don’t have money so I’m always sitting at home. Her father and her sisters also go out to look for piece jobs so I remain with her here at home. When I do get a piece job, I take her with me,” said Ms Mlangeni.
She appealed to well-wishers to assist her with acquiring a residential stand and setting up a small business.
“I desperately need somewhere to stay. Where we’re living now is council property and I have to pay rates every month. I don’t always have the money. I can’t afford to pay rent, water, electricity and also buy food. If I could get my own stand and get assistance to build two rooms, I can live with my child and be able to do piece jobs. I can also start a small business and sell wares while I look after Lister,” said Ms Mlangeni.
The family currently lives in one room in Jahunda which Ms Mlangeni says is cramped and not suitable for a growing child.
“Life is difficult because I’m unemployed. Even when I do get piece jobs, I have no one to leave Lister with. There’s no one who would agree to live with her because she can’t walk and can’t go to the toilet on her own. She doesn’t speak clearly so it’s difficult for people to understand her.
She also gets overwhelmed, scared and becomes unresponsive. We used to live the nine of us in the one room but it’s now just the six of us including her father, her brother and two of our grandchildren. It’s a small room and difficult to live in. Lister has grown up yet we still have to sleep with her and her father in one room. It’s not right. I want her to live a comfortable life and need assistance to achieve that,” said Ms Mlangeni.
“Those willing to assist us to get a residential stand, groceries, diapers or capital for a small business can reach me on 0779249316.” — @Yolisswa
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