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Despair hits parents of children with disabilities
National Association of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped (NASCOH)
October 08, 2007

The current water woes and worsening economic climate have resulted in untold hardships for a group of women with children with disabilities in Sunningdale, who no longer have any source of income after their sewing machine broke down four months ago and whose gardening venture is no longer possible because of unavailability of water to water their gardens.

The women, who belong to the Sunningdale Tinokunda Group of the Zimbabwe Parents of Handicapped Children (ZPHCA) used to cater for their upkeep and for that of their children through proceeeds from selling t-shirts, shorts and dresses that they would have sewn using a sewing machine that had been loaned to them by Sunningdale Community Centre. Four months ago, however, the sewing machine broke down, and the women, most of whom have been deserted by their husbands, are failing to make ends meet because they have been forced to discontinue the sewing project.

To compound the situation, the women used to run a thriving gardening project which provided them with much-needed relish to feed their children. The current water woes, however, have forced the women to discontinue the project and this has robbed them of an invaluable source of food. The food that is prescribed for their children by the doctors is also very expensive and hard to get.

Although the women still meet every Tuesday and Thursday at the Sunningdale Community Centre with their children to give each other advice on self-help projects and on how to care for their children, they are beginning to feel that these meetings are a futile exercise.

"The mothers are despairing. You can't just come and meet when there is nothing to do. We desperately need our own sewing machine and a regular supply of water in order to get our income generating projects going," says Mrs Memory Namarave, the Chairperson of the Sunningdale Tinokunda group of ZAPHCA.

The mothers also said that they wanted a centre of their own, like the one in Glen View, where their children can live and sleep and the parents can be free to go for employment and then come back to their children. They would also be able to take turns to look after the children. Other people do not want to look after their children and the ever-present queues for virtually every commodity are also a considerable concern for the women, as they cant't stand in the queues but have to buy quickly and rush to look after the children.

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