Scripture based empowerment of People With Disability (PWDs) through Inclusion approach
August 28, 2018 / Author: communication
Project Summary
People with visual impairment are stigmatized and discriminated by the community in Tanzania; and therefore their needs are given little attention.
According to the Population and Housing Census 2012; 8% of the population were people with disabilities (PWD’s). There were 150,000 disabled persons in Kagera region, Tanzania. According to the District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO) of Ngara district the number of disabled persons is 3,479 (District database 2017/18). However, according to personal survey that was conducted in May 2018 in five villages in Ngara district which form part of the intended project area, the number of disabled persons was 744 distributed as follows: Ntobeye village 253, Runzenze village 130, Chivu village 43, Kigina village 239 and Rwakalemera village 79.
Disabled persons face a number of challenges related to their disabilities; the main challenges being stigma, discrimination and condemnation. This societal attitude stems from cultural beliefs about disability which is looked at as a curse and misfortune.
In this project the Bible Society of Tanzania intends to address these challenges, through sensitization of the community members in Ngara district so as to change their attitude towards disability as disability is not inability. Also to empower the disabled persons through training and encouraging them to establish and run income generating activities; and for them to know and to demand their basic rights such as interaction with the Word of God and inclusion in societal affairs.
In implementing this project the Bible Society of Tanzania intends to sensitize the community, to train disabled persons on HIV and AIDS as well as equip them with social skills so as to raise their self-esteem and become proactive in the community.
In this project the Bible society of Tanzania shall implement the project in collaboration with the Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs), potential trainers from different churches and church related organizations, the community leaders and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the project area. Disable persons organizations will identify beneficiaries, the church will select church representatives for training and carry out decentralized workshops, groups of PLWHA will select their representative for training and the community leaders too will select their representatives for training. The funding partners will provide the required funds for project implementation, and the Bible Society of Tanzania will coordinate, supervise, evaluate, follow up all the project activities during project implementation and write reports; whereas the church and the disabled persons’ organizations will own and sustain the project.
It is expected that at the end of the project the community in the project area will have positive attitude towards disabled persons and therefore there will be reduced stigma, discrimination and condemnation. The society will experience the love of God and all community members will live a fulfilled life regardless of ability or inability.
As Christians we must stand up and let every man, woman and child know that God condemns violence.
Reason for Ranking
Disabled people are stigmatized and discriminated, not respected, recognized and treated in a way that lower their dignity by the community and therefore are not well informed about HIV and AIDS. Due to this community attitude only a few have access to education, health services, equal employment opportunities and little participation in social affairs. In view of the above people with disabilities are the most marginalized and disadvantaged group living in poor environmental conditions.
Project Goal
To improve social welfare and increase economic power of the disabled people in Ngara district, Kagera region Tanzania by 2021
The specific objectives of the project are;
1. To provide Scripture based materials and appropriate knowledge on health and life skills among disabled people.
2. To sensitize and create awareness to the Community and Church leaders that persons with disabilities are equal participating partners in the society like able- bodied.
3. To empower disabled persons in the district through provision of support towards establishment of income generation activities in the Churches and the community.
Project goal’s relationship to overall bible society strategy
The Bible Society of Tanzania strategic objective is to make Scriptures available to all Tanzanian to help them to transform their lives. In the Bible Society of Tanzania strategic objective people with disabilities are among the targeted audiences; therefore, implementation of this project Scripture based empowerment of People With Disability (PWDs) through Inclusion approach is to achieve one of the strategic focus of the Bible Society of Tanzania . This program will be implemented as an extension of the Good Samaritan projects among other programs on Biblical perspective. In implementing the core Good Samaritan program; experience from the field showed that people with disabilities were not involved in economic empowerment and health related interventions.
Strategic Fit
Connecting your project to your Bible Society’s overall mission strategy
How does your project relate to the Philadelphia Promise?
This project targets disabled persons who are also one of the targeted audiences as is in the Philadelphia Promise commitment one; “helping all people have and engage with the Bible”.
About the beneficiaries
How did you arrive at your beneficiary impact number?
According to the Population and Housing Census 2012; 8% of the population were people with disabilities (PWD’s). There were 150,000 disabled persons in Kagera region, Tanzania. The region is divided into 8 administrative districts: Bukoba urban , Bukoba rural , Misenyi , Muleba , Biharamulo , Karagwe, Kyerwa and Ngara. However, according to the District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO) of Ngara district the number of disabled persons is 3,479.
According to personal survey that was conducted in May 2018 in five villages in Ngara district which form part of the intended project area, the number of disabled persons was 744 distributed as follows: Ntobeye village 253, Runzenze village 130, Chivu village 43, Kigina village 239 and Rwakalemera village 79.
Beneficiary focus
Our target audience is 3,479 disabled people in Ngara district Kagera region Tanzania
How have the needs and perspective of the beneficiaries helped shape the design of the project?
Disabled persons have been a marginalized and discriminated group in the community and therefore have experience quite a number of obstacles to full inclusion; such as education, health services, and equal employment opportunities and other social activities. Community intervention to address these challenges is still insignificant. Because of this situation, The Bible society of Tanzania wants to be one of the players in addressing these challenges.
National Context
According to Tanzania Federation of Disabled People’s Organization, there are 4.5 million Tanzanians living with a disability. The Population and Housing Census 2012 show that 8% of the population were people with disabilities (PWD’s). There were 150,000 disabled persons in Kagera region, Tanzania.
According to the District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO) of Ngara district the number of disabled persons is 3,479. However, according to personal survey that was conducted in May 2018 in five villages in Ngara district which is the intended project area, the number of disabled persons was 744 distributed as follows: Ntobeye village 253, Runzenze village 130, Chivu village 43, Kigina village 239 and Rwakalemera village 79.
People with disabilities are often overlooked in Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT), Care & Treatment programming, reproductive health and rights services and face increased barriers to accessing services, and therefore they are more vulnerable to health related infections including HIV and AIDS. People with disabilities are often among the poorest and most marginalized in the society living in severe poverty. Only 3.1% receive income from paid employment.
Need
The Bible Society of Tanzania learned that there are many disabled persons in Tanzania. People with disabilities needs attention to their challenges. In this project the Bible Society of Tanzania wants to address one of these challenges, which is to provide them with training on life skills, reproductive health and economic empowerment on income generation activities. The government and some of the Non-governmental organizations are taking different initiatives to address these challenges. The Bible Society of Tanzania is one of the few organizations taking these such initiatives.
How this project will help the beneficiaries
Taking in consideration the Disability Principle “Nothing about us without us” the project will help the beneficiaries to identify their respective Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs) in collaboration with the church. Beneficiaries will be introduced to number of training sessions in which they will fully participate so as to acquire knowledge and understanding of the Word of God and receive Scripture materials. Through awareness programs and regular home visits the project will harmonize meaningful social interactions among Disabled persons, family members, church congregation and community members. Beneficiaries will also be economically empowered through income generating activities that are friendly and respective to their physical and psychological state.
Scripture & Prayer
Key Verse
Deuteronomy 15:11 “There will always be poor people in the land.Therefore I command you to be openhanded towards your fellow Israelite who are poor and needy in your land”Prayer points
Prayer points
- Pray for funding of the project so that Disabled persons may be reached by the Word of God.
- Pray for proper implementation of the project so that required impact may be achieved.
- Pray for the needs of Disabled persons so that they may feel the love of God as their needs are covered.
Project Activities
Project activities
- To translate Scripture materials from English to Swahili language (December 2018- February 2019)
- To produce the training materials (February)
- To sensitize project partners and stakeholders (January – February)
- To identify project beneficiaries and their respective DPOs (February – March)
- To conduct 4 facilitators training in two zones (March – August)
- To visit and train Disabled persons on family and decentralized level (April – December)
- To identify, initiate and facilitate Income Generating Activities (April – December)
- To carry out 8 community awareness programs (Twice per quarter)
- To conduct 4 follow up/review workshops (One per quarter)
Project partners
- The Church, local government authority and Disabled Persons Organization (DPOs) will identify the beneficiaries.
- Donors will provide funding for producing training and Scripture materials and other project activities.
- The Bible Society of Tanzania will conduct training and distribute Scripture materials and carry out follow-ups and home visits.
- Community Based Organizations (CBOs/DPOs) will collaborate with Bible Society of Tanzania in project implementation.