The Sunday Mail
Emmanual Kafe
When the Deputy Sheriff and his team pulled into the driveway at the normally quiet sanctuary at L’Arche Zimbabwe on March 2, they were, as is the norm, misconstrued as visitors who ordinarily visit the place to donate and support the centre that cares for those with mental and physical disabilities.
But the visitors, this time, had not come to give but to take.
It was traumatic for those who were around to witness the Deputy Sheriff itemise properties that could be of any meaningful value.
The monster that the founders of L’Arche (French for Noah’s Ark) had sought to protect the vulnerable kids in society from – the excesses of humankind, had finally breached the gates.
“It was really a moving scene as she (Deputy Sheriff) moved around listing furniture and items that could be auctioned. But there was nothing of value really. And, in any case, most of the stuff is donated. As she moved into the children’s rooms and began to understand what really the community is all about, she could not help, but be moved by what was really happening.
“Even for the hard-hearted, it is difficult to take the little that such kids value in their lives. However, the Deputy Sheriff composed herself and carried on with her duties,” said one of the L’Arche officials who witnessed the event but cannot be named for professional reasons.
Four former workers at the institution who fell out with L’Arche are claiming over US$30 000 in salaries and damages.
In a long-drawn labour dispute that was referred to arbitration, L’Arche was not represented as the papers were allegedly improperly served.
It was only recently that the details of the labour arbitration award were known.
But as L’Arche tries to process what really happened, the institution – which was set up 20 years ago by Jesuit priest Father David Harold-Barry after he was moved by a similar institution he saw in Canada – is in danger of sinking; so, too, are the hopes of all the souls whose lives are attached to it.
Modelled along the biblical story of Noah’s Ark, which was designed to save species from fatal and ruinous floods, L’Arche tries to simulate a family model where people of all age groups live together.
In order to help “core-members” (the community’s lingo for those that form the community) adjust to what is expected of them in society, they are actively involved in establishing and sustaining income-generating projects that help augment the little they get in donations.
It is hoped that through this, the members, who are ably watched after by assistants, will be able to explore their talents.
There are permanent core-members who are adopted through Government’s Social Welfare department, including members that directly come from society.
But in the most cruelest of ways, the little that these vulnerable kids have worked for might soon go up in smoke.
When the Sunday Mail Extra visited the home last week, life seemed to go on as usual, but the pain and anxiety was visible.
Mr Tawengwa Chinyowa, a social worker and a long-serving assistant who has been with the institution for the past 15 years, said despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, it is hope that keeps the place alive.
“We have friends who donate various goods but mainly we do our own income-generating projects such as poultry-keeping and commercial gardening. During my early days here, I thought I had found a job, but as time went on I realised that this was actually a calling.
“It has become my family, and you cannot be employed by your own family,” said Chinyowa.
Apart from the vegetable garden and the chicken project, they also have a workshop were candles, beads and batiks are made for sale.
But this is barely enough to cater for the water and electricity bills.
Buying medicines to cater for the members, most of who have to be routinely monitored, is also a challenge. Overall, there are 26 core-members – 14 boys and 12 girls.
Experts believe the country needs an over-aching policy framework that recognises and respects the rights of people living with disability. There is also advocacy for Government to harmonise the United Nations Conventions of Persons Living with Disabilities with the new Constitution.
Despite the gloom, there have, however, been some success stories.
One of the core-members, Esther Chin’ono, who has since been re-integrated with her family, recently sat for her Ordinary Level exams and passed six subjects. Also of note are the exploits of Enock Sixpence and Tinashe Mandoza who won medals at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in China in 2007. The former settled for a bronze medal in golf, while the latter Mandoza won gold in swimming.
Special Olympics are flagship events for people with disabilities. Such accomplishments have helped strengthen the resolve the institution afloat.
L’Arche exists in more than 142 countries worldwide and was first established in France by Jean Vanier, a member of the royal family who quit the Navy, arguing that he would not kill a soul to save another soul.
The country’s fist ever National Survey on Disability and Health of 2015 notes one in 13 Zimbabweans has some form of disability. It is also notes that of the 900 000 people with disabilities, 39 percent fail to proceed past Grade Seven due to poverty.
The report says disabled people are hindered by financial constraints, pregnancy and discrimination which force them to drop out of school. Only 18 percent of the disabled people reach Form Four.
Zimbabwe ratified the UN Convention of the Rights of the Ddisabled in September 2013 but is yet to align this with the country’s laws.
But as L’Arche Zimbabwe tries to move on, the fate of the vulnerable kids at the institution, for now, hangs by a thread.
