Disabled people who faced prejudice in Kenya have started their own business with microloans from a Welsh non-profit organisation.
Trevor Palmer He founded Responsable Assistance in Newport after seeing how disabled people were affected by the 2004 tsunami in Thailand.
The charity Fursa Initiative offers loans from £3.45 to £34.50 plus solar-powered mobile phones.
Trevor, who has multiple sclerosis, said there were people all over the world who “couldn’t live or be included”.
Nzembi Mosukulu from Kenya is unable to use her legs but has never had a formal medical examination. Like many other disabled people in the world, she faced difficulties and sometimes struggled to get food and water.
“Whenever the drought comes, we disabled people face a big challenge,” she said. “We don’t have food and our neighbors don’t have food, so no one can help.” – Vulnerable area.
The money she earns from her business “helps me buy food and educate my children,” she says.
Kibwezi Fursa scheme chairman Francis Mutuku said before the grant, people “didn’t see themselves as capable of doing any work”.
But – along with the loan – they were given business training which boosted their confidence and “raised their self-esteem”, he said. The World Health Organization estimates there are 1.3 billion people with disabilities in the world, 16 percent of the population, and believes the number is growing.
A study published in the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health Journal found that one-third of children and adolescents with disabilities have been abused, with children in affluent areas particularly vulnerable.
Nzembi is one of hundreds of people with disabilities who have benefited from the work of the Trevor Foundation, which received funding from the Welsh Government.
Trevor said he was saddened by the treatment of disabled people in some parts of the world, especially in disaster zones and emergencies.
“I was in Addis Ababa and unfortunately I was involved in an act of terrorism, I exploded,” Trevor said. . He added: “We take things for granted here, that we receive certain benefits, that we accept inclusion in our lives, that is our right, that is good.
But these things do not exist and people do not realize that there are people in other parts of the world who have nothing and cannot live or be included.
Responsable Aid has now been granted permission to dig a foundation for a solar-powered well in Macunee County to provide people with access to clean drinking water. Trevor believes that anywhere in the world, having a disability is no obstacle if you have the support of those around you and a little further away.