สไลด์โชว์ 'Why would we invest in a disabled person?': fighting bigotry in Mozambique
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![[url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/oct/10/why-would-we-invest-in-a-disabled-person-fighting-bigotry-in-mozambique] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/oct/10/why-would-we-invest-in-a-disabled-person-fighting-bigotry-in-mozambique[/url]
Mateus Mbazo, 23, irrigates his plot in the outskirts of Beira, Mozambique. Mbazo was given agricultural training by social enterprise Young Africa. Photograph: Carlos Litulo/For Light for the World]([url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/oct/10/why-would-we-invest-in-a-disabled-person-fighting-bigotry-in-mozambique
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At 21, Mateus Mbazo from Sofala province in Mozambique faced a stark choice: starve or steal. Recently orphaned, with disabilities on his right side affecting his arm and leg, Mbazo had to feed himself and his two younger brothers. He had missed out on schooling, and getting a job to earn even a meagre sum was a difficult task so a life as a petty thief seemed the only option.
At his church that he heard about an initiative that would change his life: a programme offering training for people with disabilities.
Now 23, his biggest concern is not how to provide for his family, but defending the plentiful harvest in his market garden business from local goats, who love to munch on his crops. On his carefully tended plot, lent by the landowner, onions, tomatoes, cabbages, sprouts and lettuce are flourishing.
Mbazo’s success is unusual in Mozambique, where people with disabilities are four times more likely to be out of work than their contemporaries. In some places, stigma, such as fear of contagion, persists. This reflects the broader picture within the developing world, where it’s estimated that between 80-90% of disabled people are unemployed – by comparison in the UK that figure is 52%.
Mbazo’s training came from international organisation Light for the Worldtogether with social enterprise Young Africa. They are working to give people with disabilities the skills to make a living and in a programme in Sofala, have taught 160 young people – alongside more than 13,500 able-bodied students – in subjects from tailoring and cooking to welding and electrical engineering.
Young Africa’s director, Aksana Varela, and her team are proud of their efforts: the centre has been fitted out with ramps, lecturers have been trained in sign language and assistive computer software installed in the library.
Priority is given to the most disadvantaged.
Chef Joana Nhantote, 27, knows how difficult it can be to persuade employers to look beyond a disability. She lost her hearing at 13.
“It was hard to [find] a job … not because of the work itself, but because of the discrimination for me being deaf,” she signs.
Now in a permanent job, she says: “It is a bit different from cooking at home. I didn’t know the ingredients, the type of seasoning and how you use it, but now since I finished the course, I can distinguish one from another. I’m a better cook. I love working here.”
Marta Lucas, 13, in her classroom at the 25 September primary school in Buzi district, Mozambique. Photograph: Carlos Litulo/Light for the World]([/p
At 21, Mateus Mbazo from Sofala province in Mozambique faced a stark choice: starve or steal. Recently orphaned, with disabilities on his right side affecting his arm and leg, Mbazo had to feed himself and his two younger brothers. He had missed out on schooling, and getting a job to earn even a meagre sum was a difficult task so a life as a petty thief seemed the only option.
At his church that he heard about an initiative that would change his life: a programme offering training for people with disabilities.
Now 23, his biggest concern is not how to provide for his family, but defending the plentiful harvest in his market garden business from local goats, who love to munch on his crops. On his carefully tended plot, lent by the landowner, onions, tomatoes, cabbages, sprouts and lettuce are flourishing.
Mbazo’s success is unusual in Mozambique, where people with disabilities are four times more likely to be out of work than their contemporaries. In some places, stigma, such as fear of contagion, persists. This reflects the broader picture within the developing world, where it’s estimated that between 80-90% of disabled people are unemployed – by comparison in the UK that figure is 52%.
Mbazo’s training came from international organisation Light for the Worldtogether with social enterprise Young Africa. They are working to give people with disabilities the skills to make a living and in a programme in Sofala, have taught 160 young people – alongside more than 13,500 able-bodied students – in subjects from tailoring and cooking to welding and electrical engineering.
Young Africa’s director, Aksana Varela, and her team are proud of their efforts: the centre has been fitted out with ramps, lecturers have been trained in sign language and assistive computer software installed in the library.
Priority is given to the most disadvantaged.
Chef Joana Nhantote, 27, knows how difficult it can be to persuade employers to look beyond a disability. She lost her hearing at 13.
“It was hard to [find
Now in a permanent job, she says: “It is a bit different from cooking at home. I didn’t know the ingredients, the type of seasoning and how you use it, but now since I finished the course, I can distinguish one from another. I’m a better cook. I love working here.”
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