The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
GOVERNMENT is improving the standards of schools and rehabilitation centres in the country to cater for persons with disabilities, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa has said.
Speaking during the hand-over of a specialised wheelchair to 10-year-old Dylan Marowa of Piki Village in Gombakomba last week on Saturday, Minister Mutsvangwa urged parents with disabled children to continue working with Government in identifying the children’s needs and the challenges they face.
She said the programme is running under the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare under the purview of Minister Paul Mavima.
“I urge people in our communities, particularly traditional leaders and parents of children with disabilities, to work with Government. The relevant ministry is currently going around the country identifying people with disabilities to make sure that we improve the status of the schools and centres we currently have,” she said.
“Government is concerned about the welfare of people with disabilities. President Mnangagwa’s mantra is that we should not leave anyone or any place behind. This also applies to people with disabilities.
“Given the opportunities in a rehabilitation centre or school where there is specialised care with specialist experts teaching them, their situation will improve and that is what Government is clamouring for.
“In a rehabilitation centre, Dylan can prove his abilities. As we always say, disability is not inability. I encourage the community to keep working together with Government to make sure that Dylan and others out there get the best opportunities this country can give.
“The policy will make sure that the welfare of all people with disabilities is looked at and improved,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
Dylan’s mother, Mrs Rachel Marowa expressed gratitude after receiving Minister Mutsvangwa’s donation, describing it as a dream come true for her family.
“I am so happy with what the Minister has done for my child. Dylan has a right to attain education and I was worried that my child will never go to school. I have never come across a child with a disability attending school and I had resigned to fate in Dylan’s case,” she said.
Mrs Marowa said Dylan developed jaundice a few days after birth.
“My son developed jaundice while still in hospital two days after his birth. I only discovered it two days after being discharged from hospital when his body turned yellow. I went back to the hospital and they treated him.
“I thought everything was okay until weeks later when I realised that his neck was not stable. I went back to the hospital with him and was told that my son had celebral palsy and he would live with the condition for the rest of his life. He is also asthmatic,” she said.
