The power of knowledge and meaningful engagement

Her community does not have good roads for wheelchair users and being a village the setup of the huts and houses does not support the use of wheelchairs as buildings and homesteads are not in a particular order and the roads don’t exist except for paths and the main road that leads to essential service facilities.

Esnart was born without any physical disability. However, as a little girl at the age of two, she started experiencing problems with standing. Her legs started becoming weak that eventually led to her failing to stand or walk. Despite taking her to various health facilities in the early months of her sickness, her legs stopped developing and she lost the use of both her legs. This resulted in her developing a life-long physical disability and made her become a wheelchair user, as she grew older.

“I was not born like this; I started having problems with my legs as a baby when I was about 2 years old. My parents took me to the hospital, but Doctors failed to heal me, and ever since, I have never walked.” Esnart Mwewa, Mwense Village, Samfya District.

Before being exposed to volunteering knowledge, she was a victim of early and unplanned pregnancies that came about because of a lack of knowledge of SRH and services. Also due to her disability, her family and community expected her not to indulge in sexual activities, as was the expectation of a person with a disability. The cultural norms and expectations eventually led to her having an unplanned pregnancy at an early age as well as being in a state of unemployment and a dependent.

Esnart is currently using a wheelchair to facilitate her mobility. In the recent past, she faced several challenges accessing Sexual Reproductive and Health services at her local health facility, Samfya Stage Clinic due to the lack of ramps at the facility.

‘It was very embarrassing for me to be lifted from one room to another at the clinic because it was not possible to move in a wheelchair’. Esnart Mwewa, Mwense Village, Samfya District

The Make Way programme aims to break down barriers to Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) by applying an intersectional lens. Making overlapping vulnerabilities visible helps us to understand their effects on a person’s SRHR. The programme develops and shares intersectional tools, and also engages in mutual capacity strengthening with other civil society organisations, to advocate for much-needed policy and societal changes.

After attending the Intersectional Community Scorecard (ICSC) by VSO under the Make Way Programme, in Samfya District and at the interface with duty bearers, she had an opportunity to demonstrate to duty bearers how difficult it was for her to access the health facility. Respective duty bearers responded by putting up ramps in public facilities such as the office of the district administration two days after the interface meeting and at the Stage 2 Clinic it was later done in the same month. So much progress with regard to improving accessibility of people with physical disabilities in Samfya district is being made, especially for wheelchair users.

“I am now able to move well at the clinic, though I still need someone to push my wheelchair on the ramp in order to reach the corridor.” Esnart Mwewa, Mwense Village, Samfya District

Moreover, despite being a female youth with multiple vulnerabilities, Esnart is a very productive youth, she has not allowed her disability and situation to limit her productivity as a business lady. She is engaged in several small-scale entrepreneurial activities like selling tomatoes, onions, and fritters at home. The VSO Talking books have sessions on entrepreneurship which Enart had an opportunity to listen to and gain knowledge on how to start and manage a basic business which propelled her to venture into business also motivated by several unsuccessful job hunts as a graduate in secretarial studies. She studied at Mansa Trades, the provincial town of Luapula province.

The writer’s reflections on Esnart and the events that led to the construction of the ramps are the following; being a person with a disability and a wheelchair user, poor, having no SRH information previously, and being a single parent, Esnart was excluded from accessing services that would have been responsive to her needs. Therefore, it led to many unfortunate events including mental stress on her:

1. Inability to have easy access to the local health facility due to the long distance from home.
2. Limited mobility at the health facility due to the absence of ramps.

• Discrimination by some community members.

1. Exclusion from participation in key developmental activities in her community.
2. Not being able to access life skills information to enable her to make informed decisions

Duty bearers have to be brought on board to engage/interface with primary actors who are marginalized and this can only happen if the primary actors are made aware of the rights and entitlements and equipped with tools with which they can use to engage with duty bearers. Esnart’s story demonstrates that we don’t live single-issue lives but within that scope are those who are more marginalized than others and how using the intersectionality approach could help to effectively identify and responsively reach those who are usually left behind. Although this was one victory, there is still a lot that could be done in raising awareness of the rights of marginalized individuals even among duty-bearers.

“The distance between my village and the clinic is very long, it discourages me to go to the clinic sometimes, especially when I don’t have anyone to push my wheelchair.  In the rainy season, it is impossible to reach the clinic due to the wet and slippery roads in my village.” Esnart Mwewa, Mwense Village, Samfya District