Mr Ndlovu is taking care of their wheelchair bound daughter
– Faith, who started menstruating in recent months. He has to endure the weight
of bathing her and changing her as she cannot do it on her own. She cannot
walk, talk or wash herself.
Sunday News visited Mr Ndlovu at his home at Fort Asher
where a lone grass-thatched hut stood in the middle of the yard with overgrown
grass. Mr Ndlovu shares the hut with his children, Faith and Joseph.
“Faith was born as a normal baby and we never noticed any
challenges with her initially. We only realised she was not crawling when she
was over nine months old. We thought it was just a small issue and we visited
Mpilo Central Hospital to get some assistance and we were told to come back
after three months if there was still no change,” he said.
A year and two months later, Faith was still not crawling
or walking and they returned to the hospital and were told to look for a
wheelchair. He said because they could not afford it, she never had one until
when she was four years old. Her mother would carry her on her back whenever
she needed to move about.
“We tried physiotherapy with the hope of getting her to
walk when she was about five years old and when she turned six, the service was
no longer free and we could not afford it and we stopped. The little money I
was making at the mines was not enough for our upkeep, Faith needed nappies and
pampers so she stopped physiotherapy as the money was not enough,” said Mr
Ndlovu.
In 2021 she enrolled at Fort Asher Primary School although
she was now over-aged for the early grades.
“The school told us that the Government was on record
calling for inclusive education saying children with disabilities must be
afforded a chance like anyone else. Faith started Early Childhood Development
in 2021 and she is in Grade One now,” he said.
He managed to secure another wheelchair for his daughter
for better mobility. On the whereabouts of Faith’s mother, he said she left
with her relatives after she had fallen ill in June.
“They came to fetch her some weeks ago and I remained with
the children. I do not know where she is or if she will return but she knows
that Faith needs a lot of care,” he said, holding back tears.
He added that he was informed of CURE International
Children’s Hospital in Bulawayo which assists children with various orthopedic
conditions for free by a community health worker. He is now appealing for help
to reach the hospital.
“I bathe her, I wash her clothes and her nappies because
she cannot use the toilet so when she is wet or soils herself, I have to clean
up. It is hard for me as a man. I have seen women who leave and take their
children with them, but my wife left a vulnerable child behind and I am not
sure what I can do.
At least she eats well, I cook isitshwala, soup, and chunks
for her and sometimes rice, she cannot chew properly so she needs soft foods,”
he said.
He said the challenge is when she experiences her
menstruation cycle.
“This is a major problem. She just completed her cycle two
days ago, she was menstruating. She started menstruating just last month, I
spoke to one health worker and they went and sourced cotton wool for me at the
clinic and other things to assist during her period,” he said with tears
welling up in his eyes.
Faith also has speech challenges as she is not very audible
and her arms are also weak. Mr Ndlovu said he would like assistance with adult
pampers for Faith as she has outgrown the ones for younger children.
“I stopped going to work when my wife fell ill and when she
recovered, I thought I will go back to work but that is when her relatives came
and took her. Now I can’t leave my children alone especially with Faith’s
condition,” he said.
He said his neighbours have been assisting by giving him
food provisions whenever they could. Mr Ndlovu said he would like to get
assistance to start a poultry project which would enable him to be always
available at home to attend to his daughter’s needs.
He has also reached out to centres that take in children
with disabilities for them to take her in, but he has not been able to get a
response Sunday News
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