Who cares for these neglected folks?

By Kwesi Yirenkyi Boateng

Naturally, every animal extends special care to its offspring irrespective of whether it was born with deformity. In the animal kingdom although the concept of survival of the fittest predominates, there is this communal care exhibited towards the weakest and feeble ones when animals move in groups.

However, this concept of communal care among human societies which is manifested among many rural African settings, seem not to be extended to the physically challenged, hence they are left to their fate. Sometimes, the sense of insecurity starring some of them in the face, for fear of being attacked and used for rituals is enough to drive them into hiding all the time. At times, families who perceive their disabled children as a disgrace, lock them up in rooms to hide them from friends who may visit. The mean treatment meted out to persons with disability greatly affects their self-esteem and to a large extent their social lives.

A cursory look on our streets indicates the presence of not just street children but many mentally challenged people in our cities and villages. In fact there is no village in this country without one, but there is this begging question of who actually cares for them? Or better put, whose responsibility it is to take care of them?

The case of Tataa

I grew up in a small town of about 500 people but normally increased to over a thousand or more during market days. Tataa was a common name in Dodi-Papase then. He was a middle aged man of about six feet high without teeth in his mouth except his gums that showed each time he laughed at us. Tataa was a restless fellow who prowls the dusty roads from the town to Ahamansu Junction back and forth and usually stationed himself under a mango tree in the heart of the market, although with the constant threat of eviction by competing market women for the shade the branches of the tree provides.

Every child of my age knew Tataa and made fun of him especially after school. The harassment becomes unbearable or so I thought when we went on vacations, because we (children) had the whole day to ourselves and followed him.

Though we persistently worried him every day, Tataa was always calm and never lost his cool. Sometimes Tataa would usually chase the naughty-daring and mischievous ones away. We liked him in spite of his unkempt condition, and also because he made us giggle about the rat-race he engaged us in.

After tirelessly moving from his temporal market station to the main town, Tataa later comes back to rest. He lived by begging for food, water and anything edible from those selling at the market square and generally contributed to keeping the market place clean by picking abandoned foodstuffs and sometimes sweeps under the mango tree before resting.

Children of my age then were delighted to make fun of him by teasing and drumming cans after him. He would temporally stop and try to chase us back. That was how we lived, until Tataa disappeared from the town.

Although many people cooked explanations about his disappearance, none could boldly claim to know his whereabouts.

I kept wondering where Tataa might have gone. I still recollect vividly with nostalgia how during one of the Christmas celebrations Tataa visited us in our home. I sensed he was burning with hunger, after my mother served him with rice and stew she prepared. I had honestly wanted to eat from the same bowl with him but for the stern look, I advised myself and reluctantly revised my plan.

At my friends house, bowls used to serve Tataa were discarded to save the family from the possible contraction of his ‘mental disease’. I was shocked to realise how one woman bathed him by pouring soapy water on him for apparently entering the house uninvited. The shameful treatment I believe was one such incidence which perhaps drove Tataa away.

In fact I was never pleased with such treatment but it clearly showed how unfair we might have related to people with mental disability, physical challenges, cured lepers and even albinos in our society.

The Silent Social Stigma of neglect

There is no doubt we are created by one God who is eternally good and in discriminatory and extends His love and care to all His creation. As a society aimed at improvement, growth and development, it is surprising that many of us continue to perpetuate this discriminatory acts against Persons with Disability (PWDs). This silent stigmatisation is unfortunately ingrained in our social strata in very loud manner, killing the moral and self-esteem of many PWDs in the country.

Although there have been certain awareness campaigns in the past, there is still more to be done, especially in sensitising people about the essence of caring for the PWDs, especially those without homes.

Tataa vanished from the town and no one could trace his whereabouts. His case might be one of few mentally challenged people abandoned and neglected by families, community, society and the nation at large.

In our cities today, the likes of Tataa roam our streets freely, sometimes naked or wearing tattered clothes and living on the pavements or some slums, as if no one cares. At times, I sit back and wonder whether they have relatives. And if they had, why have they left them to roam the streets and sleep in the open. My conscience pricks me and I feel there is some serious disservice we are doing to ourselves as members of society which whittle away our claims to hospitality and God fearing, peace loving people and a religious nation. I never intend to pass judgement but rather propose a reflection on our attitude.

It is only human to associate with the affluent, successful and healthy individuals in a society, in order to engender a mutual relationship of "you scratch my back I scratch yours" symbiotic relations. But as a nation I would like to know whether we are actually fulfilling our religious and socio-cultural obligations to our disadvantaged compatriots?

Does the nation really care for them? Is it the Department of Social Welfare that is responsible for these people, if not then who? How do we properly integrate them into our society after they have been healed at our psychiatric hospitals?

The better we understand that we are all one people and must work together to improve upon our lot the better it would serve our collective interest. We have a role to play to ensure that we extend help, affection and love to these neglected folks on our streets. Whether we like it or not they are a part of our society and no matter how shabbily they may be, the regrettable truth is that they are still a part of us. Dissociating and detaching ourselves from them (poor, physically, mentally challenged) is tantamount to betraying our societal obligation as citizens of the same country.

This discrimination is present in our various places of worship. Sometimes I wonder whom we are pleasing by occasionally presenting some foodstuffs to inmates of orphanages but neglecting the very ones in front of our houses and on our streets. I am not against the idea of feeding and clothing the needy but I think there is more we can do as a people to help alleviate their plight.

Psychologically, living with them can be very irritating but it is a virtue of advancing our religious kindness to them that should anchor our motive of helping them. Many of them may genuinely be hungry but the most important thing they need more is a sense of feeling loved and cared for by others.

Some children even feel shy to associate with them, because most adults are unconsciously teaching them to do so. It should be possible for those of us healthy to extend the care and affection to them and not just neglect them as the case has always been.

We have more we can offer them than just giving them alms of some token amount in the name of enhancing our ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ but as a matter of assisting our fellow brothers and sisters who had to live like that. In fact, that we are begotten from one creator indicates that we have to relate with them as one of our kind and accord them the very basic rights we always seek to fight for.

Conclusion

Tracing the cause of the rigid stigma in our society would be another topic for another discussion. However, our priority should be directed at identifying how best we can collectively ‘kill’ the almost impossible social stigma against our brothers and sisters.

Creating systems and institutions to cater for PWDs may be a costly venture but improving upon those institutions involved in catering for their needs, healing and ensuring their proper integration into our society would be beneficial to the country, as most of them could be trained to acquire skills that would equip them to work and thus boost productivity of the country’s economy in the long-run.

As we all aspire to live better lives, we must also help others especially the underprivileged to see how beautiful life is. It is only by doing so that we can all contribute to harness their worth in the society, rather than see them as unfit and burdensome liabilities.

One unfortunate thing is that the social stigma tends to blind the so-called able bodies from seeing the talent in some of them. Neglecting or disregarding PWDs or writing them off in our quest for economic development, would be suicidal and a dent on our image as a people claiming to be among the world’s most hospital country. What a grave contrast in our national psyche.

The Disability Act and Mental Law will come to nothing if we fail to accept PWDs as part of our society and accord them the needed respect and care.

We owe it a duty to let them live a dignified life and guarantee their safety. We must therefore accept them as a part of humanity, invite them into our homes, and cater for their needs and gradually integrate them into our society of ‘NORMALCY’.

First posted on www.publicagendaghana.com/index.php on Tuesday May 17,2011