Africa-Press – Botswana. The implementation of Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) programme at Tshidilo Stimulation Centre has seen a change in community’s attitudes towards people with disabilities.
The Maun-based centre offers preschool and stimulation services to persons with disabilities through physiotherapy, orthopedic technology, occupational therapy, counselling and social welfare services.
It also offers vocational training to help persons with disabilities to be active and acquire skills that would help them decide on their choice of career.
The centre services Maun, the rest of Ngamiland and neighbouring districts such as Chobe and Ghanzi.
One of the physiotherapists at the centre, Mr Daniel Dibebe said in an interview that since he started implementing the CBR programme, they noticed a difference in attitudes towards people with disabilities.
He noted that in the past some people perceived people with disabilities as a burden and a shame, which perpetuated stigma attached to disability.
He said the CBR programme helped many to see things differently and play a part towards improving the quality of life of people living with disability.
“This is an outreach programme whereby we go out as a team comprising staff from different professions such as physiotherapy, social work, psychology, medical health and orthopaedic into villages including rural areas to raise awareness and educate communities about disability and how they can cope with the situations.
We also follow up on our clients and do check-ups in their natural environment to see how they are coping and we also conduct some assessments to see who can be enrolled. We have a mobile clinic which offers services,” he added.
Mr Dibebe explained that when they identified challenges, they referred to relevant officers to treat or make recommendations.
The team, he said embarked on an outreach once a year citing that this year, they covered Qangwa, Nokaneng, Habu, Xaixai in the Okavango District while in North West, they reached areas of Toteng, Sehithwa, Bothatogo and Bodibeng to raise awareness on the rights of children with disabilities and help parents to cope with the situation.
The programme, he said, was producing positive results.
He expressed happiness that those who used to hide or lock away children because of disability were now coming forth to ensure the children received services and support.
Some people, who lost their legs had been assisted with prosthetic appliances while those who could not walk had been trained on mobility and were now able to walk without support. Mr
Dibebe appealed to the public to continue taking advantage of services offered by the centre to benefit people with disability citing that early detection was important so that the situation could be attended to timely.
Delaying to seek assistance, he said may exacerbate the situation, especially on children.
Meanwhile, in a bid to raise the funds to run the centre, it has introduced some income generating projects such as leather production, fashion design and operation of a tuck shop among others.
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