The saying ‘Disability in not inability’ has dominated any discourse about inclusion. And lately, 20-year-old Alfred Emmanuel is one among many beneficiaries of functional literacy in Nsanje district under Child and Youth Friendly Communities Initiative (CYFCI) which is being implemented by Development Communication Trust, with financial support from UNICEF.
Under Ndiola Children’s Corner in the Area of Traditional Authority Tengani in Nsanje, not just Emmanuel but also over twenty others, a bursary scheme on offer and other entrepreneurial skills are top-notch benefits to uplifting their lives.
For Emmanuel, for instance, he lauds the fact that through the club, the community has been able to lobby for resources including a state-of-the-art wheelchair which has eased his mobility hurdles.
‘’Well, apart from this wheelchair, this is a place where I feel comfortable and engage my peers in discussions vital for not just our community but even our own lives at the youth. I find solace in the fact that the club has also helped in taming prejudices associated with disabilities. Anyone, like can me now feels empowered. This is good, ‘’ says an all-smiling Emmanuel.
The bursaries which come under already existing structures including the Constituency Development Fund CDF have called for a halt in academic challenges which are reflective of families that are not able to settle school fees for their children.
‘’ By the time I got into form 1, my parents did not have the funds to continue supporting my studies. The only viable choice was to withdraw from school. The school fees was at K7,500 by then but, I am glad that now ended as I have managed to proceed and have now just sat for the Junior Certificate of Education at Nyankhwali Community Day Secondary School,’’ details one Ruth Ganunga who has managed to beat the odds in a family of six to reach secondary school.
But although bursaries are one of the more physical benefits, Finias Veleya feels the mindset of people in terms of their societal roles has changed.
‘’ People in our area can now reason with local leaders like the Village Development Committee into making sound and tailor-made decisions that are meaningful to this community. As they say: Nothing for us without us, and that is the message that is imparted on not the youth, but all sectors in our community and results are now visible,’’ he says.
Apparently, according to Veleya, the communities have also been able to drum up a call for an additional five teachers at Ndiola Primary School, a move which has eased the delivery of lessons, which was affected by the insufficiency of teachers.
‘’ A similar change has now come in our access to health services. We now no longer walk for five kilometers to Tengani Health Centre. Through our unwavering proposals and engagements, we have been able to move authorities into providing a mobile clinic. This is change and we can’t just undermine that, ‘’ says Veleya.
In Chikwawa, at Rabu Primary School, authorities have through this initiative been able to have a functional change room to deal with cases of discomfort for young female learners not to be able to change during menstruation.
In an interview, Gregory Madeya, Headteacher for the school admitted that erecting such a structure in the last year, has led to an improved turnout of female learners at the school.
‘’Firstly, our view is that they (the girls) feel appreciated and at home. So, this structure is very vital towards achieving access to education, ‘’ says Madeya.
The project which is being led in the two districts has been a great success and according to DCT Executive Director, Prince Mtelera, they will continue engaging the communities to ensure that every sector of the population is involved in decision making and so much so that the councils and other structures have child-centric development activities.
“The challenge is that most of the communities operate under a patriarchal system in which evidently, children are not supposed to come any nearer to where decisions are made. That goes even to the district councils, the VDCs, and the area development committees. So, this project has come to shift that kind of thinking to allow children to participate in all processes of decision making.” said Mtelera.
Through the project, there is also a sports element that is being implemented by a local Non-Governmental Organisation Mpira Mmudzi Mwathu.
Through MMM, authorities hold weekly children and youth sports for development sessions and a trainer for trainer’s mentorship program as part of the sustainability of the sports for development model.