5.8m Tanzanians disabled, society member says

The world is awash with great scientists, painters, musicians and business executives who are disabled in one way or another. Tanzania should not be an exception.

Society for disabled appeals to NEC on General Election
IPPmedia
The National Electoral Commission (NEC) should make it possible for Tanzania citizens with 'mild' mental disabilities to vote during next month's General Election. The appeal has been made by the federation of disabled people's organizations in ...

Mr Tumaini Mcharo 44, is one of the reported 2.5 million Tanzanians living with one form of disability or other. As experts gathered last weekend in Dar es Salaam to discuss ways of helping the disabled, Mr Mcharo, who was at the meeting, gave a testimony to the common adage that disability is not inability.

People with disabilities are still stigmatised in many pastoralist communities whereby basic needs for children including education are not among their priorities, it was observed here recently.

A Constituent Assembly (CA) member has praised the CA secretariat for being considerate of delegates with special needs.

An estimated 500,000 disabled children are being excluded from South Africa's education system, international pressure group Human Rights Watch says.

Dodoma. Fourteen-year-old Ekilia Elias has proved not only to her school but the entire division that disability is not inability. The Standard Seven pupil at Buigiri School for the blind in Chamwino district in Dodoma region, is a star in her own right--admired by teachers and envied by fellow pupils--blind and non-blind—for her unmatched academic prowess.

As Tanzanians join the world to mark the education week, people with disabilities (PWDs) are not in a celebratory mood.

>Children living with disabilities often fall victim to all manner of stereotypes, and when the disability in question is mental, the sufferers find themselves at the bottom of the priority list.