Home Visits: Zenab & P5 boy

The first person we visited was Zenab who has a small business selling tomoatoes and other vegetables in the Kalerewe Market (picture on the left). She is in a wheelchair because she had polio and has had a wheelchair for six months. Since she lives in a swamp area it's difficult to keep her wheelchair clean. Although she has a business and at first glance you may not notice that she is disabled (she scoots around while working), she is segregated from the other sellers. Her area is a blanket clearly distinct and in front of the line of vegetable sellers. Although many of them have shade and a table, she does not. While we were there Fatuma had a chat with the manager (apparently there is some organization to the chaos?) about that. She encouraged him to think of people with disabilities as a responsibility of the community. A very active lady, she would be interested in going into a group with some of the others and expanding her small business.

After visiting Zenab, Fatuma, Steven (Fatuma's driver) and I went to St. Jude Primary School to visit a boy who was in a wheelchair at the school there. Right now the place is completely unaccessible.


In order to even get up the step to his class he needs a bit of assistance. His chair also isn't very fitted. The cushion is good, though, so I suspect he's using that so that he can grow in the wheelchair. He's in P5 right now and seems to be doing pretty well for now, but his classes in P6 & P7 aren't remotely accessible. Fatuma talked to the headmaster about everyone contributing and helping.


Here he is with his class. He generally sits in the back with some friends, but when the kids crowded in the front I insisted on being able to see everyone. The kids were super cute. On the way out we moved at a snails pace with the car because all the kids wanted to wave bye and Steven was driving very carefully.

Fatuma is of the mind that disabilities must be supported by the community and it's admirable that she makes that effort. She was telling me today that she wants MADE to expand to also focus on advocacy in the times where it doesn't have a lot of wheelchairs to build. She had a meeting with the director of Disability Rights Fund. (ironically, located in Boston!) The advocacy would be for making private schools accessible. Public ones are mandated by law to be accessible (although law and reality are completely different), but there is less regulation on the private ones. Here's hoping Fatuma's application is successful! =)


And random: I saw this little guy outside my hostel when I got back from the home visits. I think he was greeting me. Now I just need a banana so we can be friends...

Home Visits: Linda

Linda is in a very unfitted imported wheelchair that she got in Arusha. She had one of the Free Wheelchair Mission chairs, but only kept it for a day before exchanging it in Arusha for her current one. She said for washing and for indoor activities the wheelchair she has is ok, but it's difficult to transport because it isn't foldable. She found the footrests to be cumbersome when she maneuvered and went about her day, so she removed them and uses a piece of cloth instead. That can't be comfortable, but I guess at least it's easier to get around.

Several years ago, she discovered that she had a tumor in her back and since has been confined to a wheelchair. Last year, she got her wheelchair new in Arusha, but it looks much older. It's difficult to imagine that she's only had it for a year. The seat is literally falling apart and the wheels look like they need to be replaced.

She has one daughter, Matrona (5 yrs old and adorable), and is living with her mom. For income, she has a small business selling sunflowers and sewing. She's looking forward to having a better, fitted, foldable wheelchair, because she'll be able to use public transportation and expand her business. She will still need to rely on her nephew to aid in getting to the bus stop (when I say the roads leading to her house are ridiculous, that doesn't do them justice), but she will be able to go to town herself to buy things instead of relying on others.

She's hoping to obtain a microloan for 200,000 Tsh ($167) so that she can expand her tailoring business. She has a sewing machine in her home, but currently depends on customers bringing their own cloth. With the money, she would be able to buy cloth and have customers choose from her home. I hope these meetings in Dar Es Salaam go well this weekend, because there's a lot of potential growth. I've met several people who already have small businesses and have plans for expansion, but they need something to take them to the next step.