Stigma against PwDs too high in Biharamulo as NGOs fight it

DISABILITY is not inability’. This is a brainy quote that normally encourages a person with any form of disability to understand that such human condition does not make him/her unable to reach their goals in life. 
But the quote also tries to change the perception of other people without disabilities to seepersons with disabilities as individuals who can achieve goals in life just like other people.
Former United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in 2013 in one of the meetings said; “Disability is part of the human condition; almost everyone will be temporarily or permanently impaired at some point in life.”
According to former UN secretary general, there were more than a billion people with disabilities around the world – that was around 15 per cent of the population of the planet by then.
Figures on the number of people with disability in Tanzania are currently not clear due to the fact that the 2012 Population and Housing Census (PHC) did not obtain data on the prevalence of disability in the country. However, until mid-2010 Tanzania was estimated to have 3.7 million people with disability.
It would be recalled that the 2012 census showed that Tanzania had a total population of 44, 928,923 of which 43, 625,354 were in Tanzania Mainland and 1,303,569 in Zanzibar. The male population constituted 21,869,990 and the female population 23, 058,933. 
Thought figures of people with disability in the country are important, the most important thing is the rights and responsibilities of this group given the appalling level of stigmatisation within certain communities in the country. 
In Biharamulo District, Kagera Region, a non-governmental organisation called ‘The Registered Trustee of The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rulenge-Ngara’ under the financial support of The Foundation for Civil Society has volunteered to sensitise people with disabilities, decision makers and government executives on the rights and responsibilities of the marginalised group. 
The decision by the Trustee to carry out such a noble task emanated from the fact that stigmatisation against people with disabilities in the district is rampant to the extent that individuals are called by their form of disability and not their proper names.
The sensitisation work was not that much easier as the Trustee was forced to carry out as baseline survey to identify all people with disabilities in the whole district of Biharamulo before groups of stakeholders were gathered for the sensitisation seminars.
The district consists of 17 wards with 79 villages but the sensitisation work has so far been carried out in nine wards in the first quarter of project implementation period.
Father HonoratusNdaulla, Project Coordinator of the Trustee told the Guardian that politicians including the chairman of Biharamulo District, the legislator, district executive director and councilors attended the sensitisation workshops organized by the Trustee.
According to Fr Ndaulla, it was necessary to involve politicians and government executives in the seminar simply because they are the ones charged with the responsibility of serving them in their areas of administration and service.
He said in their survey they observed a discriminative, inconsiderate and non-caring attitude of the community members towards people with disabilities, prompting the Trustee to intervene in an effort to reverse the trend.
Giving an example Ndaulla observed that people with physical disability in Biharamulo District were not considered by the local and central governments in its infrastructures such as buildings.
“Go to the courts, hospitals, schools, police stations and other government building. People with physical disabilities encounter serious trouble in accessing them,” he said.
He added: ‘Government officials have the responsibility of ensuring that people with disability get fair and sometimes special treatment in service delivery and that’s what we also tell them when we meet in workshops that we organise’.
Testimony from people with disability
Paul Makene,a person with physical disability, spoke of the benefits of the project carried out by the Trustee , saying for years disabled people in Biharamulo had their own grievances that required attention of district leaders but always failed to secure the platform to make their voices heard. 
He said meeting district executive director, members from the office of district commissioner, the legislator and councilors availed them an opportunity to present their cases. Giving an example Makene said: “some government buildings in Biharamulo District are not ‘user-friendly’ to the people with physical disability like me but today we are happy because efforts are underway to rectify such anomalies.”
Makene, who once attempted to vie for a post of a local government leader, said his opponents capitalised on his disability by waging campaign that targeted to create a picture to voters that disabled people cannot deliver( disability is inability). 
According to Makene, it is a normal practice for parents with children with disability to hide them from public eyes, insisting that the project currently being implemented works to reverse such a bad trend.
“When leaders of the Trustee invited us to the seminar I met a lot of people with various forms of disability I had never seen before, an indication that there are a lot of people with such human conditions around Biharamulo but they are hid from public eyes either by their parents or guardians,” he pointed out.
Makene said some school-aged children with disability are not attending schools as they are not taken out for registration by their parents and guardians. “The fight for our rights is far from over,” he insisted.
Salum Mkombachepa, also person with physical disability thanked the Trustee and the Foundation for Civil Society for volunteering to fights for their rights. “The seminars conducted have opened my eyes with regard to my rights and my responsibilities as well as the responsibilities of decision makers towards us as disabled people.” he says. 
He said the fact that political and government leaders were and are still being involved in the seminars more will be achieved. “Some of us were not aware of our rights and responsibilities. Now the situation is quite different,” she added.
Jonia John, a woman with physical disability appeared to be moved after she was picked by the Trustee for the sensitisation seminars. “I can confidently state that this project is of great importance to People With Disability ( PWDs).
According to Jonia, the sensitisation seminars have enabled her to cultivate an attitude of self-confidence. “I can go anywhere and do everything on my own because I fully know my rights and responsibilities,” she stressed in confidence.