The Experiences and Opportunities of Children with Disabilities in Rural Areas in Zimbawe. A Case Study of Hwange District at Lukosi Village
- Author
- Dzama, Maidei. R
- Title
- The Experiences and Opportunities of Children with Disabilities in Rural Areas in Zimbawe. A Case Study of Hwange District at Lukosi Village
- Abstract
- The study sought to explore the experiences and opportunities of children with disabilities in rural areas in Zimbabwe, using a case study of Hwange District at Lukosi Village. The four objectives which led to the study were; to identify the causes of disability in Hwange District, to explore the experiences and opportunities faced by the children with disabilities in Lukosi village, to find out the services provided by the government of Zimbabwe, the society and NGOs in making the children with disability life better; and to bring out the strategies that can be used to improve the services provided to assist children with disabilities in Zimbabwe. Mixed methodology was used to collect, present and analyse data. Snowballing sampling technique was utilised to select a sample of 15 children with disabilities for semi-structured interviews while convenient sampling was used to select 5 parents for questionnaires and 5 key informants for interviews. Convenient sampling was also utilised to select 6 parents for Focus group discussion. Theoretically the study was underpinned by the Rights based approach and the systems theory. The study findings indicated that there are various causes of disability among children such as lineage, accidents, health problems, poverty and witchcraft. From the findings poverty is the leading cause of disability in Lukosi village. This might be articulated by the economic crisis and dollarization which has affected the balanced diet of expectant mothers . The study findings indicated that children with disabilities experience a lot challenges such as discrimination, child labour, sexual abuse, health problems and dropping out of school. Furthermore, the study indicated that due to the experiences being faced by children with disabilities, children with disabilities feel unwanted in the society as they are isolated from society functions and are not given attention at schools. Hence, children with disabilities drop out of school out of fear of being laughed at, which compromises their personal dignity in the society. The study findings indicated the opportunities that children with disabilities get which are in form of various services such as medical assistance, bus warrants, food aid, BEAM and counselling. To add on, most of the respondents indicated that they had no knowledge on the provision of services. The study findings indicated awareness, enforcement of strict laws and education as strategies that can be used for the betterment of the service provision. The findings pinpointed some recommendations such as follow ups, empowerment programs and awareness campaigns so as to enhance the social wellbeing of children with disabilities.
- Date
- 2022
- Publisher
- BUSE
- Keywords
- Disabilities
- Supervisor
- Nil
- Item sets
- Department of Social Work
