"It is always possible to improve the situation"

Handicapped people are among the most vulnerable groups in Mozambique. They are often victims of prejudices and abuse, and their civic rights frequently neglected or violated. But efforts are being done to improve their situation.

By Per Bergholdt Jensen

29. September 2005

ADEMO is an NGO in Nampula in Northern Mozambique that works to defend the rights of disabled people and to improve their living conditions. In this interview the director, Ali Afite, and MS assessor, Gitte Byg, tell about their common work, tricycles, the lack of orthopaedic centres – and how to overcome cultural differences. 

Would you please tell a bit about the work you are doing at ADEMO in Nampula?

Ali Afito: ADEMO in Nampula is developing a number of income-generating and social projects and activities. Some examples of income generating projects are the shoemakers’ workshop, the tailors’ workshop, the blacksmith’s and the canteen. We also have the community school, which is at the same time a social and an income generation project, and the adult education centres. 

We are in the process of opening delegations in the districts, and some of these districts already have activities that are financed by MS. The objective of ADEMO’s activities is to try to heighten the social and economic level of our members. We would like to contribute to poverty alleviation and to social integration.

Gytte Byg: There are some districts where the local delegations manage to raise funds for projects and activities. The objective with the activities in the districts is for them to be autonomous and independent of the ADEMO provincial delegation, and that they should manage to develop and implement income-generating activities without help from the provincial delegation.

ADEMO has recently completed a renovation of its building. What will these changes mean to ADEMO?

AA: It has lifted our spirits, and the members are more motivated now. So, there are changes, because the members are more willing to work now, and I have noted that more people come to us now, because they know that ADEMO is the point of departure for change. But we only inaugurated the building a short while ago, and it would be more appropriate to make this evaluation in another 2 or 3 months.

GB: I think that the whole environment has changed. People here are livelier and more willing to come and make an effort.

AA: People in the community that are not members are also more aware of us now. They are more curious and our projects are more easily accepted, like with, for instance, the shoemakers’ workshop and the canteen.

What are the conditions like for handicapped people in Mozambique nowadays?

AA: The situation has improved a little, but it should improve even more. What is needed is more physical rehabilitation of handicapped people. We do have orthopaedic centres. If more handicapped people were rehabilitated they would be able to move around more and this would be an enormous improvement in their lives. Today many stay at home because they don’t have a tricycle or a wheelchair. 

GB: Many handicapped people could have been helped much earlier if they had been taken to an orthopaedic centre. They would have been able to do much more, to get around more easily and, they would have had fewer problems with being handicapped, because they would have been trained since they were children. Now, this is not possible, and many have more difficult lives because they were not trained.

In your opinion, do the Mozambican authorities do enough for handicapped people? Do you think that there are things that could be improved?

AA: Yes, a number of things could be improved. The government is also improving things little by little. It puts more emphasis on sports. Handrails and ramps are put up to facilitate access, but they are not always working very well, because sometimes they are not maintained. It is a struggle, and it is not possible to win all the battles at once. It is very difficult for us to travel or get around with our tricycles. Getting around in the sub-urban areas is problematic when you are in a tricycle or even when you use crutches.

GB: The country has policies that aim at improving the situation, but all this has not yet been put down into legislation. One cannot say that enough is being done; it will never be enough, because it is always possible to find something that is in need of improvement. Even if things get better for a whole year there will always be something that needs to be improved.

Is ADEMO trying to become more influential at the political level – for example by working with lobbying and advocacy?

AA: At the beginning of this year, our intention was to make posters about the difficult situation handicapped people are facing in relation to transport. Last year, one of our members wanted to sign up for a teachers’ training course, but the provincial education authorities muffled the whole thing up, because the person had a handicap. 

The education authorities said that conditions were not in place for them to receive handicapped people. But we insisted, and in the end they changed their mind. When our member finished the course, the situation was repeated. They didn’t want to incorporate him in their workforce, they didn’t want to give him work, and they didn’t want to pay him a salary. We continued our struggle for our member, and in the end he became a teacher.

Another area that we are working on is concerning medicine, because we want medicine. But we don’t fight only for the members of ADEMO, we fight for all handicapped people.

According to what you are saying, it would seem that the way people look upon handicapped people here in Mozambique is a bit problematic. How does society react to handicapped people in Mozambique?

AA: The situation is not all that good, even though things are changing. People think that handicapped people are not able to do anything. But when they see us in the residential areas around town, they often change their minds, because they see that handicapped people are also human beings, perfectly able to do a lot of things. But out in the districts they still hide away their children if they have a handicap, and they are not allowed to play with other children, because the parents think that it is a disgrace to them.

GB: In the rural areas all this has got to do with lack of knowledge. People don’t know how to, or are not trained to be able to help a child with a handicap. They don’t do anything, because they don’t know what to do. So, they just leave the child to its own devices.

Which are the biggest challenges for ADEMO in the coming years, and what would you like to achieve?

AA: Even though we have managed to achieve some of our objectives, there are still many challenges. One is to put pressure on the government to start making laws that govern the situation of handicapped people, and not just resolutions.

We also want to make society more aware of the valuable effort made by handicapped people. We want to start practical actions within social and economical areas that include the participation of handicapped people.

What do you think that handicapped people can do in order to improve their own lives?

AA: They must get a profession, and be trained. Then they should seek self-employment because they cannot expect anybody to give them employment. They must learn to depend on themselves. And they must learn how to protect themselves from diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, etc.

ADEMO has a Danish Development Worker, Gitte Byg. What advantages do you see in having a DW? 

AA: First of all, I think it is an advantage for the organisation in terms of internal organisational work. For example, we haven’t really been in the habit of making agendas for our meetings. 

This is something new that Gitte has introduced. As she is already used to working with agendas, she knows that having an agenda will improve the course of the meeting. She explains to us how we could organise our work better.

GB: My title as organisational adviser implies that this is my first priority, and I help them with planning, structure and administration of the association here at the provincial delegation. It is not at the financial level, but how to administer all the activities that we have. Apart from this, it is also my job to monitor, and to plan for the training of the members.

One of the very important things in planning is transparency, and I can see that things have become more transparent here at ADEMO. The members know much more now about what is going on in the association than they did before.

One of the important aspects of MS’s work is intercultural co-operation. Could you explain how your day-to-day co-operation works in practise? What may be the advantages, and what the difficulties, of coming from different cultures?

AA: We see an advantage, because we are learning from Gitte. For example, the transparency within ADEMO that we talked about is something that we don’t find in many organisations. But because we have the MS DW, we have been working on this, and we have introduced a weekly meeting now, where we all speak openly and transparently. It is a new era, and we accept this. When we started this process, we may have felt a bit uncomfortable, but I recently consulted the members, and they like this new transparency. We have created a new habit and have already incorporated it into our work, and this is good. It’s an advantage.

GB: I also learn something new every day. It is not a question of just coming to work and then do everything, like I did it in Denmark, because that would quickly create conflicts. I am learning about the local culture, the norms, how to deal with different issues, how to speak to people, and also I see that there are other ways of looking at things and to solve problems, than what I am used to. One thing that I have learnt during the time that I have lived in Mozambique is the importance of being patient. 

Maybe my colleagues get tired of me sometimes, because I want to do things in a hurry, which is nor always possible. And perhaps they are thinking that I am always pushing them, but I also feel that, in many cases, people do begin to see the advantages of changing some of the old habits and start working more as a team. But I don’t feel that this is a problem, because we always manage to talk about it.

Per Bergholdt Jensen, information officer, MS-Mozambique