Able Child
>> Ellen Currie
Able Child is an organisation working in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia to protect, educate and amplify the voices of children with disabilities. With an estimated 29 million children in East and Southern Africa living with a disability, they advocate to ensure no child with a disability is left behind.
Often, children with disabilities are not diagnosed until later on in their lives because of poor access to services, lack of income and access to healthcare and in many communities, traditional beliefs such as witchcraft and taboos mean that these children are frequently excluded.
Stigma and discrimination are the leading factors for children with disabilities that lead them to live a poorer standard of life and exclusion, as a result of a lack of education on these disabilities. Hence, Able Child aims to educate people to tackle these barriers that enable children with disabilities to thrive and be included within their communities.
The organisation have worked to help people such as Angel. Angel is 6 years old, living with her mother in Zambia and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a lifelong physical disability that affects movement and coordination and is caused by a problem with the brain that develops around birth. Angel fell behind without having access to the same education as her peers because she was segregated, with this being the norm in the area that they lived in. Due to a lack of education and support, teachers believed that children with disabilities would be either disruptive or unable to keep up with their learning, so children such as Angel were excluded.
Many communities don’t offer support to children with disabilities and their families as they believe that disability is a form of punishment. Therefore their families also face exclusion, being isolated and discriminated against both socially and economically. Angel’s mother experienced this whilst struggling to provide food for Angel, and both were unsupported by their wider family as they lacked awareness about her disability.
Able Child worked with their partner Zambia Association of Parents of Children with Disabilities (ZAPCD) to train teachers in the area to care for Angel and other students with disabilities, now they are educated on her condition and encourage all the children to play together. They additionally provided support for Angel’s mother by informing her of financial and social tools that she can use to improve their lives and her family then adopted a more supportive attitude after learning of Angel's rights and her disability.
Angel’s mother said: ‘This project has made our lives easier in that it has helped me provide Angel with what she needs such as food, things for school, clothes and shoes. This is all because of the transport refunds that are now given to us.’
Able Child is now launching a new strategy to change the way the organisation works and advocate for change internationally. They are working alongside their partners to create a network of children-focused disability organisations in Africa that will combine the expertise of its membership to shape the landscape for children with disabilities in policy and programming. This will create a platform for joint action to amplify the voices of these organisations.
The network members will elect an Executive Council to decide exactly what support will be offered and how they will receive it. Able Child will act as a network to allow unrestricted funding for members, technical support in programme delivery, tailored operational support and a joint platform to advocate for change. To find out more about their new strategy, visit their website: ablechild.org.uk