Meet Ms Loveness Nyamayaro. She is a very warm and bubbly person by nature. She has a smile that has the ability to literally brighten up any room. She is a beauty therapist by profession. Loveness was born with a physical disability. Though having to contend with disability from her birth she never let that weigh her down. She went to school with others and completed her basic education just as any average young lady.
Like many Zimbabweans Loveness is based in the neighbouring country of South Africa. The writer decided to investigate what led her to leave her home country to relocate to another. Prior to leaving Zimbabwe Loveness was an avid sports person who enjoyed playing wheelchair basketball. She was also a Youth Disability Activist attached to the Leonard Cheshire Young Voices group. She recounts how she was motivated by the then group facilitator; Mr Tapiwa Tsikai to want to achieve more out of her life. Though being surrounded by loving family and friends the young lady was unhappy due to the fact that she was unable to obtain any employment despite her being qualified as a beauty therapist; “It was difficult for me to get a job because I am disabled. When I go for an interview once they see me walking with walking aids (crutches), they refuse to interview me, they then say sorry we can’t take you because of your condition.”
One day enough was enough for her; the young lady started making plans for a gradual exit and eventually she left the country and joined her relatives in South Africa. She has not looked back ever since.
Asked to narrate how life is in South Africa she was quick to mention how it was quite challenging for her at first as she had to adjust to being in a new environment given the language and cultural differences. Due to her self determinant nature the young lady quickly adopted to the new environment. Once she had adjusted to her new home, Loveness started looking for employment, in no time she had obtained employment inline with her profession.
Loveness went on to speak about the major differences in terms of how people are treated in her new home compared to her home country; “ discrimination in South Africa due to disability is minimal, many of the buildings are accessible to people with disabilities and there are many job opportunities for us too, we are treated with dignity and respect”, she said. She also went on to mention that people with disabilities receive monthly government grants and free assistive devices which when sold are available at a very affordable price.
In terms of words of advice to fellow people with disabilities Ms Nyamayaro said; “Believe in yourself, be confident in whatever you do and keep on upgrading your education. The sky is the limit!”
In June 2021 Zimbabwe launched a ground breaking National Disability Policy. Under this policy the general well-being of people with disabilities is expected to improve drastically. Part of the provisions in the policy are:
3.2.2 Strive to ensure that a minimum of 15% of the workforce of all organizations across all sectors comprise persons with disabilities.
3.9.1 Persons with disabilities must be exempted from paying fees and levies at all public learning institutions.
3.13.1 Assistive devices must be provided by the government for free and where this is not possible, the cost of assistive devices must be regulated by the government to foster affordability by persons with disabilities.”
Once the policy is implemented to it’s fullest extent, young people with disabilities like Loveness may no longer find it necessary to leave the country in search of opportunities.They can live their best lives in their own home country Zimbabwe. It’s now up to us as a society to ensure that this policy is wholly implemented.