Fount for Nations Combats Discrimination Against People with Disabilities Through Family Support Program
The tale of Chimwemwe Mhango, a mother who has a 3-year-old child with a disability, typifies the depth of agony parents with children with disabilities go through in the face of discrimination.
LILONGWE, Malawi - Despite increased awareness and advocacy to tame rising cases of discrimination against people with disabilities in Malawi, the vice is still sprawling uncontrollably in the country as some sections of society continue discriminating against people with disabilities, writes Alinafe Sambo.
With such a background of cases of discrimination haunting those with disabilities and their guardians, Fount for Nations (FFN), a local NGO, is helping children with disabilities and their parents with a family support program where the organization provides social support in the form of food packages, counselling, and monetary help through social cash transfer.
The tale of Chimwemwe Mhango, a mother who has a 3-year-old child with a disability, typifies the depth of agony parents with children with disabilities go through in the face of discrimination.
Mhango says she has been facing a lot of challenges in the community she hails from, including in her own family because she has a child with a disability.
She says that despite the disability itself posing a challenge, discrimination is also another problem many parents are dealing with.
"It was not easy for me to survive all the insults that people hurled at me. Just imagine people saying I sacrificed my daughter for money rituals," said Mhango.
Mhango said she was introduced to Fount for Nations by a friend when they were taking their kids to school. Mhango says she finds Fount of Nations an oasis of hope in times of adversity.
Mhango further said that apart from teaching the children, Fount for Nations has also trained parents on how they can support a child with a disability and how to respond to any form of discrimination, besides giving them business management skills.
"Through the help that Fount for Nation has given me, it's now easy for me to care for my child, a thing I found hard in the past," Mhango said.
Beatrice Kachigong'no, a mother of a 13-year-old child with a disability, says life has never been easy for her to raise her child, who does not walk.
Kachigongo'no says constant verbal and emotional abuse from community members made it difficult for her to send her child to school.
"It was not easy for me to survive all the things that people were saying, and for my child to go to school, I needed a lot of resources, which made my life miserable," said Kachigong'no.
"With the money that Fount for Nation was giving me, I was able to start a small business where I was selling powder soap. I am also able to send my child to school, and now he is in standard 6 at Likuni Boys’ Primary School," she added.
Speaking to Africabrief, Howard Bowa, Family Support Associate at Fount for Nations said the Family Support Project (FSP) was introduced to provide psychosocial support to parents with children with disabilities and their families.
Bowa further says that through their work in the disability sector, the organisation offers holistic support to the child.
‘‘The carers play a vital role in ensuring the well-being of the children. Parents, carers, and family members have to deal with stress, stigma, discrimination, high costs of goods and services, and many other challenges for their children with disabilities,’’ disclosed Bowa.
"It is essential to offer support to the parents in terms of disability education, psycho-social education, financial literacy, and counselling to improve their well-being," said Bowa.
Fount for Nations has established 24 support groups in T/A Malili in Lilongwe, reaching out to over 300 parents of children with disabilities (CWDs).
The support groups provide a platform on which parents can access mental health support through group counselling sessions, financial education, village savings and loans, and business skills training such as soap-making business.