Community Sensitisation Serves as a Wake-Up Call to Datata Community

By Ntokozo Ncube

Gwanda: Nkomwa Foundation Trust, in collaboration with the Government of Zimbabwe and other partners, is implementing a disability inclusion project across two communal wards in Gwanda—Datata Ward 2 and Lote Ward 18—as well as Gwanda Urban. Funded by Hivos Southern Africa, the project aims to advocate for disability inclusion in all sectors and ensure the protection of disability rights. Hivos is an international development organization that contributes towards just, inclusive and life-sustaining societies, where people have equal access to opportunities, rights and resources.

Hivos’ approach is solution-driven, and it builds wider movements for change by amplifying and connecting voices

Historically, persons with disabilities in these communities faced discrimination and were often denied opportunities to express themselves. However, recent community engagements and capacity-building initiatives by Nkomwa Foundation Trust have sparked a noticeable shift in attitudes.

During a community indaba held at Datata Ward Centre, local leaders and community members praised the interventions, acknowledging the positive behavioural changes resulting from the project’s engagement efforts.

Sithabile Ndlovu (63), from Zhukwe West Village, shared a powerful testimony on the transformation brought about by the collaborative efforts of Nkomwa Foundation Trust and the Government of Zimbabwe. She emphasized that this project is timely and critical, as persons with disabilities required empowerment to break free from outdated stereotypes that label them as incapable. She affirmed, “Disability is not inability.”

Sithabile explained that through the capacity-building and community engagement meetings, persons with disabilities were successfully nominated to School Development Committees, leading to important changes such as the installation of ramps on all new school buildings. She said, “Sibafakile thina abakhubazekileyo emakhomithini ezikolo kusilethele ukwazi ukuthi izakhiwo zethu zonke kazibe lamaramps” — “We nominated persons with disabilities into the school committees, and now no classroom is constructed without a ramp.”

Sithabile Ndlovu (63) shares her testimony following the community indaba meeting at Datata Ward Centre.

She also highlighted that the project has equipped the community to address critical issues such as gender-based violence and sexual abuse. The programme’s strong support from local government stakeholders—including village heads and councillors who understand the community’s culture and customs—ensures its sustainability beyond the funding period.