Spare a thought for children of visually impaired

Gibson Mhaka
ALTHOUGH advocacy for children whose parents died from HIV/Aids related illnesses to participate in issues that affect them have increased significantly, there seems to be a state of neglect on the rights and opportunities for children of the visually impaired.There is no doubt that the society needs to spare a thought for children of the visually impaired who are living under difficult circumstances and are vulnerable to negative attitudes, beliefs, labels and stigmas.

They face challenges and problems that other children do not experience. The majority of affected children continue to be excluded from formal education and functions of social life.

They have limited access to facilities and fundamental rights such as association and education as they are being “denied” a chance of going to school by their parents who are using them as guides in their begging missions. They also help their parents with household chores, provide companionship or emotional support. However, if they do not provide any kind of support to their parents, the burden would intensify on them.

The visually impaired prefer to use their children as guides in their begging missions as they are always falling prey to some unscrupulous youths who charge $5 a day to guide them.

According to studies, children of the visually impaired are among the most marginalised people in the world and the poorest among the poor children. They confront harsh realities when they are put in institutions.

This is so because their plight has not been a national agenda as part of development but they are being viewed largely as charity or social welfare issues.

It should be widely acknowledged that the the plight of the children of the visually impaired has not been prioritised through dedicated programmes to front their rights, they are being totally ignored by society.

Children especially girls, are highly vulnerable to physical, emotional and sexual abuse as well as neglect. They are routinely sexually harassed by other children and male adults who are taking advantage of their parents’ plight.

“From ridicule and harassment to acts of physical violence and sexual abuse, these are horrific violations of human rights which children of the visually impaired are subjected to on a daily basis,” says a UN report.

The report shows that these children are subject to profound levels of poverty, exclusion and discrimination. They are widely excluded from education and denied access to protection services and basic rights enjoyed by other children.

In other words, the issue of accessibility and abolishing all types of barriers should be viewed as an issue related to human rights of persons with disabilities, their children and society as a whole.

The social model of disability supports such a concept, maintaining that it is the responsibility of a society to remove all types of barriers that exist, considering that it is society that creates them to begin with, in order to secure equal access and participation for children of persons with disabilities especially the visually impaired.

“I really wish I could go to school, and have a chance to interact with my friends but I can’t do since I am guiding my parents in their begging expeditions. I am the eldest child in our family and I dropped out of school when I was in Grade 4. If I fail to guide my parents who are both visually impaired they would be exploited by some youths who are demanding $5 as guiding fees for a day.

“Sometimes I wish if I could get married and assist my parents. Some male adults are always coming to me soliciting for sex in exchange for money but I am afraid that I might contract HIV/Aids,” said a 12-year-old girl who cannot be named for legal reasons.

She said her dream was to become a  medical doctor and treat sick people but her dream was dented after her mother felt that sending her to school was of no use to her life.
Research has also shown that children whose parents are living with disabilities especially the visually impaired have 38 percentage more chances of being diagnosed with a mental illness or any other form of mental disability.

In separate interviews some visually impaired roundly concurred that they had no alternative to their begging missions but to relied on their children as guides. They said they were being exploited by some unscrupulous youths who are demanding between $3 to $5 a day for guiding them.

“Begging is my main source of income since I am unemployed. If I stop begging my children will starve to death. I am using my daughter who had since dropped out of school to guide me because I cannot afford the services of some youths who are demanding about $5 a day.

“Our children are suffering because of our condition. They are also suffering because no-one wants to employ us because of the society’s ingrained beliefs and negative attitudes which depict blindness as a curse. I think if society removes these major stumbling blocks, that will be a great achievement in alleviating the plight of our children who are dropping from school as we are using them as guides in our begging mission,” said Thokozile Moyo who claimed she started begging in 2008 following the death of her husband.

According to Moyo, if one fails to pay the youths the $5 at the end of the day, the person’s name is entered into an “account book”. The arrears, she said, have to be settled by the end of the week and failure to do so will attract harassment from the youths.

Edson Maphosa said he had resorted to using his two children aged six and 11 respectively to guide him and his wife even though they were required to attend school because they had no one to lead them in their begging missions.

Abraham Mateta, a disability right and advocacy officer with Zimbabwe National League of the Blind said society and organisations of people with disabilities especially the visually impaired needed to come up with workable programmes to help children of the visually impaired even though they were not disabled.

“The starting point is that disability is placed usually at the bottom in terms of wealth availability and distribution as it is regarded as a charity issue in the belief that those with disabilities can’t do anything to sustain themselves.

“This usually leaves people with disabilities with no jobs and being excluded from income generating projects leading them to resort to begging. The visually impaired end up using their children in their begging expeditions because they do not have anyone to assist them.

“I believe organisations of people with disabilities need to come up workable programmes to help children even though they do not have disabilities. The government also needs to ensure that these children benefit from the Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) since most of them are failing to go to school due to financial challenges,” he said.

He recommended a multi-pronged approach to public awareness by the media to empower people with disabilities to be their own advocates. He said the media should use people with disabilities as models to advocate their product so as to create positive image of disability.