Care for the Forgotten: Disabled Zambian Children

The Mama Bakhita Cheshire Home was founded in 1996 when the Catholic diocese in Zambia sent a group of Sisters to Livingstone, Zambia to make a study of the social needs in the town which had a population of about 25,000 at that time. They determined that children with severe disabilities was an issue that desperately needed attention because these children were being sequestered in their homes due to extreem prejudice within the community at large.

They began by going to medical clinics with a message that they wanted to open in Livingtone the first center in Zambia's Southern Province to offer physiotherapy, education, food, clothing and medical attention. Slowly people came forward with their children to attend a program that included education according to ability. It was the first school for children with disabilities like cerebral palsy, autism, and other conditions that could not be addressed at other schools in the area.

These days, instead of being a source of shame, these children are brought to school everyday instead of being left at home. They discover that they too have the potential to learn and be included socially in their community.

Equally important are the social bonds that their mothers have developed, sharing their problems and supporting each other. When I first visited the Mama Bakhita in 2005, they were a tight group whose biggest problem was lack of economic opportunity and continuing social stigma. This was when I introduced the idea of hand sewing dolls that I could sell in the US for a good prices ($25 and $45) which we developed and by 2008 they were able to sustain their families.

The African Artists Community Development Project (AACDP) continues to support the Mama Bakhita Cheshire Home and the dedicated women who run the educational program that also provides food and clothing when needed. But the compound is very old and in great need of structural and electrical repairs which are expensive. The AACDP has committed to slowly restore structural problems at the school, such as the roof repair last spring.