In Chad, people living with disabilities often face complex obstacles. From education to employment and health care, this article explores the challenges faced by these often marginalized and misunderstood individuals. How can Chad move towards more equitable social and economic inclusion for all?
1999, my mother, my little brothers and I left N’Djamena to settle in Bayaka, our mother’s new place of work, a district in the province of Tandjilé Ouest. A place full of charm, far from everything, nestled in a brushwood. I spent there the most beautiful years of my childhood (perhaps of my life)! The first Sunday following our arrival in this canton, we went to mass. The Church was beautiful, the mass too. But one thing had particularly marked me: these people, these men, these women and these children devoid of fingers and toes by the dozen! I was captivated but not scared, curious at the idea of asking Mom a thousand questions. However, I should be patient at least until the mass is over. For the first time, I learned what leprosy was. Mom was very pedagogical and I was not too intrusive, so she explained everything to me, reassured me and encouraged me to treat these people as I would treat her.
The day I discovered disability
Are they still sick? No, not anymore, she replied. So why are they housed in the Church dormitories? This is because they are rejected by their parents. There are very few who have joined their parents after their recovery but the others are there because they have nowhere to go so the church offers them a roof and takes care of them as best it can. So this is the world of people living with a disability? And that’s how adults treat “different” people? These questions have never left me and I will never stop thanking this woman, my mother who taught me very early on that humans were very complex…
A few years later, I meet this grandfather (an uncle of my mother, I cannot explain to you exactly the family bond that binds us), who is blind. When he stayed with us, we took great care of him, with all the clumsiness of children that was ours. Help him to find his way, to go to the toilet, to make him touch the container in which there was water to drink… I was happy to see him at home, saying to myself, unlike many lepers of the diocesan center, he was still accepted by his own. I found myself smiling because some adults had good hearts and that was a game changer!
Photo Credit: AMISOM/Iwaria
The left behind…
Back on topic. People living with disabilities in Chad face many challenges, particularly in terms of access to education, employment and health care. According to one survey conducted in 2014 According to the National Institute of Statistics, Economic and Demographic Studies (INSEED), approximately 3.6% of the Chadian population lives with a disability. However, these figures could be underestimated due to the lack of reliable data on the subject. People living with disabilities in Chad often have difficulty accessing education. According to the NGO Handicap International, only 1% of children with disabilities in Chad have access to education. The reasons for this situation are many, including the lack of suitable infrastructure, the lack of staff trained to work with children with disabilities, stigma and discrimination against people with disabilities. In addition, people living with disabilities in Chad have difficulty finding decent employment, which exposes them to poverty and social exclusion.
3.6% of the Chadian population lives with a disability.
Source : INSEED
Unfortunately, we see that people with disabilities are not treated with dignity. When these people are not hidden by their parents in the backyards of houses like plague victims, many of them (visually impaired, motor handicapped, hearing impaired, etc.) find themselves in the streets of the capital begging to provide for their daily needs. This gives them, wrongly, an image of people excluded from society.
Lack of inclusion and funding
While public authorities shout about inclusion with big projects in which they scam and tamper with all kinds of gains, few public spaces, ministries or even means of transport are concerned about accessible facilities. people with disabilities, such as wheelchair ramps or orientation aids for the visually impaired.
Today, I don’t know of any center in Chad that welcomes, trains and empowers people with disabilities without experiencing great difficulty. This applies both to the center for people living with a hearing impairment in Bebidja, run by a couple who sacrificed themselves for the residents, and to the Resource Center for Young Blind People, which has been operating with difficulty for more than 30 years thanks to donations and the support of the Catholic Church…
People living with hearing problems often hang around neighborhoods with slips of paper with a message asking for financial assistance. The visually impaired and the motor handicapped are in the streets where they beg all day long with their children of school age.
Decree No. 136/PR/MCFAS/of June 06, 1994 which treats people living with a disability does not find favor in the eyes of anyone. Because people with disabilities continue to suffer from their disability on a daily basis.
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Chad: a book club for young blind people is born in N’Djamena
Photo Credit: AMISOM/Iwaria
These handicaps that we don’t always see
The sentence often falls very quickly when a person has mental disorders or personality disorders. They tax her as crazy and they chain her in a small gloomy room behind the house where she will undergo all kinds of degrading treatment: bodily abuse with whips, incantations, beverages made from bark, roots and tree leaves… Because we don’t know what a psychological or psychiatric illness is. In question, the lack of mass awareness on these subjects and the low number of specialists, namely less than 10 psychologists and psychiatrists in all of Chad. Added to this are problems related to learning disabilities in children and trisomy 21, considered as possession by an evil spirit by many people.
It should be noted that Chad, like poor countries, faces significant mental health challenges due to factors such as poverty, conflict, social inequality, wars and limited access. to health care. This makes it urgent to understand the mental illnesses considered disabling. Unfortunately, specific information on these diseases is limited. However, they are real and have a considerable impact on everyday life.
Invisible disabilities, real stigmas
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), disabling mental illnesses are mental disorders that result in significant impairment of a person’s psychological, emotional or social functioning. Disabling mental illnesses can include disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe depression, severe anxiety disorder, autism spectrum disorder, etc. Globally, disabling mental illnesses are a major public health problem. The WHO estimates that around 450 million people worldwide suffer from mental disorders, and almost 1 million people die each year by suicide, often linked to mental disorders. Finally, 1 billion people in the world, or 15% of the population have a disability.
Unfortunately, mental health resources and services are often limited in many African countries, including Chad. This results in a lack of access to care and a social stigma surrounding mental illness.
Visually impaired young people from CRJA/N’Djamena. Photo credit: Say Baa
Ensuring the inclusion of people with disabilities
Several institutions, including the World Bank, pledge that none of their projects will discriminate against people with disabilities, but it is important to go further to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities in society. . Promoting equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities means prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of disability and requires measures to promote their inclusion in the labor market. Disabled children in Chad also have difficulty accessing education, which limits their chances of success and social integration.
In addition, people with disabilities face barriers in accessing health care, including due to stigma and discrimination. According to the WHO, people with disabilities have higher health needs than the general population.
The situation of people living with disabilities in Chad is an important issue for the development of the country. As a member of the international community, Chad has a role to play in guaranteeing respect for the rights of people living with disabilities, as well as ensuring their social and economic inclusion.
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Donation of Braille books: the heartfelt impulse of the Toulouse Braille Transcription and Publishing Center in N’Djamena
Photo credit: Say Baa
Prospects for greater inclusion
To improve the situation of people living with disabilities in Chad, it is necessary to put in place policies and programs that promote their social and economic inclusion. This could include measures to improve access to education, employment and health care, as well as awareness campaigns to combat stigma and discrimination. It is also important to collect reliable data on the situation of people living with disabilities in Chad, in order to better understand their needs and design appropriate policies and programs.
Although Chad has adopted a law to protect persons with disabilities and guarantee their equal opportunity and treatment, much remains to be done to promote their social and economic inclusion. People with disabilities in Chad have difficulty accessing education and employment, which limits their chances of success and social integration. It is important to put in place policies and programs that promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in society, combating stigma and discrimination and guaranteeing their access to education, employment and health care. health.