Birth to wheelchair, the irony of childhood

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

I call it the irony of life. I am standing in between the car park at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH). On my right is the huge building housing the Maternity Ward, and on my left is a tiny building accompanied with a little billboard labeled APTERS. Trooping in and out of the Maternity Ward are mostly pregnant women and relieved faces of mothers with their newly born babies, filled with hope that their little ones will grow into healthy individuals.

But when I walk over to APTERS whose acronyms stand for (Appropriate Paper Technology) and begin to shake hands with its Chairperson John Janes and Rotary Club of Lusaka President Zarina Geloo whose organisation has come to make a donation of wheel chairs, i quickly realise that although located within the same vicinity and both offering services to mothers and their children, in comparison, the maternity ward and APTERS couldn’t be more different.

In the background of my hosts are several children, with their guardians who include men and women. It does not take one to be a doctor to realise that not only are the children mentally challenged, they are physically challenged too. I notice the anguish on one mothers face as she struggles to keep her daughter calm but I also see smiles begin to form as we walk towards the group.

The maternity ward offers hope and dreams for expectant mothers. When their babies are born, they leave looking forward to a day when their child will start to speak, walk and jump around. Sadly, there are accidents during birth, perhaps genetic or biological makeup of young children that can result in permanent damage. The dream of seeing a child speak and walk may never happen because they are mentally challenged to process anything or their bodies are paralysed.

For children and parents faced to live with this challenge, they turn to APTERS. Although the name does not give activities of the organisation away, it is here where the dashed hopes of mothers and children who walked out of the maternity ward several years ago are somewhat restored.

According to the organisation’s Chairperson John Janes, APTERS is a small organisation of Zambians who manufacture mobility equipment for children who suffer from Celebral Palsy. The equipment includes walkers, tables and chairs, made from recycled material. The organisation also provides livelihood for Zambians who have in the past suffered from Polio.

Each year, APTERS makes between 200-250 different items of equipment with beneficiaries coming from all over Zambia. “They filter through the system, through various clinics and end up here. The equipment helps both the children and parents have a higher quality of life and offer badly affected children an alternative to spending time on the floor. It also helps the parents and guardians who have the responsibility of looking after them especially when the children become too big for the mothers to carry them on the back,” he tells me.

He says each year APTERS appeals to donors for support. The organisations support group also subsidizes the cost of each mobility aid as nearly all parents are unable to meet the cost themselves. The average cost of the items is K110. Despite running for 23 years, the project still struggles to meet its financial obligations, especially now that it has plans to expand.

“Yes we have a few donors but it is always difficult to get donors on board. We were advised on the need to expand, so that we can modernize the old polio pool where we manufacture these items and have a bit more rooms so that there are better conditions for painting and cutting of the cardboards. We are currently working with Rotary Club of Lusaka and other donors so we can make a start on the slab and begin to extend our workshop, “Jones explained further.



Rotary Club President Zarina Geloo seals the handover



And in an interview after making a donation of nine wheelchairs and a K15, 000 cheque to APTERS, Rotary Club of Lusaka President, Zarina Geloo said, as a service organisation whose aim was to uplift the lives of vulnerable people, the club was keen to partner with organisations such as APTERS.

“Where we do not have the expertise, we partner with organisations like APTERS, Who have the expertise, experience and are in touch with people in need to help us, help you. Hopefully we will be able to get some more (money) that will help with the extension of APTERS for the benefit of the organisation and for the benefit of the children who need it the most,” Ms Geloo said.

When I finally got to mingle with the children and their guardians, they all could not stop thanking the Rotary Club. They shared with me how difficult it was to move around with the children from place to another. Even trips to the hospital for checkups and physiotherapy were a nightmare as they could not afford private transport. “With the wheelchairs, not only can we get them into a bus, we can now take them into town. Show them what they have been unable to see all these years. Let them feel like normal children,” they said in unison.

For Mervis Chandwe, whose daughter Winnie, has just qualified to grade eight, the wheelchair may just save her job. “I have to take Winnie and also pick her up from school and to do this I have to get permission from my employers. I am often being accused of taking advantage of the situation because I have a child who is disabled. But the location of my job, Winnie’s school and where I live are so far apart but there is no one to take her or pick her up. At the moment, am not even sure if they will renew my contract. But this chair will help me move a little bit faster and hopefully save my job.”

And an emotional Edna Bwembya who spoke in Bemba said, “I can never put it into words for you to understand what this wheel chair means to me and my son. He has Spinal Difida, the wheelchair I had got damaged and he had to stop school. He’s supposed to be in grade seven but he has not stepped into class this year. So you can imagine the joy I feel in my heart.”

Saddled in his brand new wheelchair, her son, 13, Luckson who could not hide his joy and spoke fluent English simply said ‘Thank you for giving me this wheelchair. I was not going to school because I didn’t have a wheelchair, now I can. Thank you.”

As we parted and said our goodbyes, I looked and captured in my mind the smiles on their faces, including that of their children, at least on those who could process what had just happened and what it meant. I wondered about the struggles, the parents and children would continue to face had organisations like the Rotary and APTERS not existed, but thank God they do and we can only say thank you. PYM

Address youth myths on Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

Nkonde speaking at the Third National HIV Prevention Convention.
Pic by Unicef Zambia.
 

In Zambia, it is estimated that every three hours, a young person gets infected with HIV. To counter this, the country has committed itself to reducing the rate of new infections by 50 percent by 2015, using a combination of prevention strategies such as male circumcision.  

However, according to 18 year old Solomon Nkonde “adolescents have the lowest levels of male circumcision amongst all the age groups in Zambia. There are a lot of reasons as to why our fellow brothers do not want to get circumcised, among them; fear of severe pain, fear of losing sensitivity and lack of information on the benefits and how the circumcision process is performed.”

Nkonde who represented voices of the young people at the just ended Third National HIV Prevention Convention, added that “while other young people felt it was not part of their culture, others wanted to know what was done with their prepuce after it got removed. In addition, there were also misconceptions on the motives of the sensitisers and the donors supporting male circumcision.”

To rebattle these myths, the youths shared various interventions that would help scale-up male circumcision among the youth.

“Parents should be sensitised on the importance of male circumcision so that they can take their children for circumcision as early as birth and massive sensitisation should be done in both rural and urban areas with young people as role models too,” urged Nkonde.

In addition to creating more centres for male circumcision in rural areas, the youths called on government to train more male doctors to conduct operations as most boys were shy to be cut by females.

UNICEF in collaboration with the Zambian government brought together 50 adolescents from 10 provinces for a Pre-HIV Prevention Convention workshop where they shared issues on HIV.

Nkonde also spoke on behalf of more than 15, 000 young U-Reporters aged between 10-24 years who participated in real-time via SMS from all the 10 provinces.

U-ReportZambia is an innovative SMS platform designed by the National AIDS Council and UNICEF to accelerate HIV response for adolescents and young people towards an HIV-free generation in Zambia.

It provides to adolescents and young people an opportunity to access comprehensive information on HIV and any other sexually transmitted infections by SMS. PYM

 

Early diagnosis of cancer in chidren vital

By MELUSE KAPATAMOYO

Turning tragedy into triumph is not an easy thing to do, but that is exactly what one woman intends to do with the Kayula Childhood Cancer Foundation (KCCF).



KCCF Excutive Director Mumba Sata

 Mumba Sata started the foundation in memory of her daughter, Kayula Zina Sata who died from a rare cancer disease in 2009.

Kayula was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma at age three and died 15 months later. The disease is common among children below age five.

"It was a traumatic time. She was limping and had an extended stomach. We saw various doctors to find out what was wrong. By the time the diagnostic was made, the cancer was in stage four, meaning it was very much advanced.

She underwent chemotherapy, which was later followed by an operation but not even that was enough to save her,” narrated Mrs Sata at a media breakfast held at Lusaka’s Intercontinental Hotel to launch a campaign which aims to increase awareness on childhood cancers.

Mumba believes that had Kayula been diagnosed early, she would still have been alive today. With the foundation, she is determined to see to it that the number of children dying from cancer is reduced.

The foundation plans to build a pediatric oncology hospital with a multi-specialty laboratory, and also build and maintain a transit home for patients and their guardians awaiting further medical attention or those discharged from hospital but were still waiting to find finances to get back to their respective places.

The Cancer Diseases Hospital (CDH) located at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) is the only health institution in the country offering treatment for cancer and provides both outpatient and in-patient care. CDH admits on average 15 to 20 paediatric patients per month from different parts of the country.

UTH senior registrar at the Hematology- Oncology unit, Dr Catherine Chunda said cancer is the most common cause of death in children in the developed countries.


Dr Catherine Chunda

 The three most common cancers in children include Lymphoma (swelling of the jaws), Retinoblastoma (affects the eye) Nephroblastoma (affects the kidneys).

But while survival rates in cancer patients in developed countries have gone up to more than 75 percent, with the United States at 80 percent, results in developing countries have not been so impressive.

Dr Chunda explained that “the problem we have in developing countries, including here in Zambia is that cancer is diagnosed in its advanced stage. In cases where it’s diagnosed early, failure to start or complete treatment has been a large contributor to many of the deaths being experienced in all these countries."

She said abandonment and refusal of treatment is the commonest cause of cancer treatment failure in developing countries. Zambia has 45 percent abandonment and mortality rates.

Other challenges hindering proper management of Cancer in developing countries are lack of diagnostic and treatment facilities. This is in addition to inadequate hospital infrastructure and medications. The presence of malnutrition in some of the children diagnosed with the disease is also a contributor.

Dr Chunda advised that recognition of childhood cancer requires; “early recognition of symptoms, rapid referral and access to primary medical care. Rapid referral and access to specialist care, data management infrastructure because in many cases a child with cancer may die before diagnosis and registration.”

According to a 2010 study by Dr Chunda and Cancer expert Professor Chintu, the most common Cancer tumours in Zambia are Lymphomas, Retinoblastoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, and Nephroblastoma.  

In 2011 and 2012, CDH recorded 566 and 361 cases of children with cancer.  The hospital has only six permanent staff, three nurses and three doctors.



Mrs Sata with journalists Brenda Zulu and Ruth Banda

 Quoting 2008 statistics from GLOBACAN, 12.7 million new cases of cancer were recorded that year alone which unfortunately led to 7.6 million deaths worldwide. 56 percent of these deaths occurred in developed countries, while 64 percent occurred in the developing countries where 250, 000 new cases of cancer in children upto the age of 15 years old.

Ministry of Health Permanent secretary Dr Peter Mwaba said to meet the demands of shortage of staff and also the shortfall of equipment at the centre; government was currently training 15 radiologists and had procured four Computed Tomography (CT) scans to be installed in hospital in Kitwe, Ndola, Livingstone and Lusaka.

He announced that 60 bed spaces out of the 200 being built at the new cancer diseases would be allocated to children with cancer.

“But the onus should not only be on government, we need community participation and mobilization if we are to fight this disease. Parents, stakeholders all need to come on board and ensure that every child has a chance to lead a normal and healthy life.” PYM.

Be a good neighbour, stop GBV

By MELUSE KAPATAMOYO

At only 12, the life of Brilliant Muyuwa was brought to an abrupt and brutal end when she was defiled and strangled early this year.

Brilliant's death made headlines in the media and also attracted the attention of high profile people like First lady Dr Christine Kaseba, who travelled to Masupelo village in Chibombo to attend her funeral.

Since then Chibombo has remained in the spotlight and many more cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) have surfaced. However, civil society organisations are keen to see a reduction and eradication of GBV cases in the area.

Recently, the Zambia Social Forum (ZAMSOF) and its partners; Alliance for Community Action on HIV and AIDS in Zambia (Alliance Zambia), Action Aid, Sight Savers and Oxfam in Zambia held a National Forum aimed at making known the new Anti- Gender Based Violence Act  and raising awareness on GBV to people in Chibombo and neighbouring areas.

ZAMSOF is a network of civil society organisations which is part of the World Social Forum of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), an open space for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, free exchange of experiences and interests for effective action.

The national forum was flagged off with a march past led by the vice-presidents wife, Charlotte Scott, ministers spouses, representatives from the first lady’s office, members from various civil society organisations and community members. It was held under the theme ‘Gender Based Violence, Child Rights and Abuses.’

Issues on the agenda included, HIV & AIDS, maternal neonatal, children health and voluntary medical male circumcision, climate and environment, youth and labour, governance, human rights, including the right to land and women’s rights.

Mrs Scott said it was impossible to achieve any meaningful development amid a society which experiences injustice and violation of human rights due to GBV

“More police posts should therefore be equipped with facilities to ensure this is a reality. Distance should not be a barrier to the course of justice and recourse in our communities so that women and children are adequately protected. As Zambia celebrates its 49^th year of independence, the commemorations need to move the country to another level of social justice and wellbeing should lead to reduced GBV cases,” said Mrs Scott.

For children who are victims of abuse and violence, which includes witnessing violence that is inflicted on other members of the household, this affects their mental, physical, and emotional development. It also affects their capacity to realise their aspirations and contribute to the development of the country.

Mrs Scott added that, “We know the role that women play in the country, not only in social but also economic development and if we are taking the people who are leading that process and we put them into lives of anxiety, of fear, of pain, of rights abuse then the country can’t go anywhere.”

Recent statistics from the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) indicate that cases of GBV are still on the upswing. About 3, 733 cases were reported between January and June 2012.

NGOCC Executive Director, Engwase Mwale noted that “It is an undeniable fact that GBV reinforces the inequalities and iniquities between women and men and therefore compromises, not just the health of the victims, but also the dignity, the security and autonomy of the victims.”

She said because women and children had continued to be victims of brutal killings, rape, defilement, incest and other forms of abuse, the fight against the vice needed commitment and concerted efforts from different stakeholders if Zambia was to see a reduction in such cases.

“We are here (Chibombo) to be able to commit to work with the traditional leaders that their voice is important to end the negative cultural practices if we are to win the fight against GBV. And as a women’s movement, we are requesting the traditional leadership to ban early marriages in their chiefdoms. Early marriages have repurcations on the girl-children because it keeps them away from schooling,” pleaded Mwale.

She called on government to allocate adequate resources in the 2013 national budget so as to address the issue of shelter for survivors of GBV and also resources that will go towards putting together a gender based violence fund that will cushion the survivors of GBV.

And Alliance for Community Action on HIV and AIDS in Zambia (Alliance Zambia) Policy and Advocacy Manager, Reverand Malawo Matyola directly called on women not to live in fear but report cases of Gender Based Violence to relevant authorities.



Charlotte Scott folds the Maternal and Child Health Poster presented to her by Alliance for Community Action on HIV and AIDS in Zambia (Alliance Zambia) Policy and Advocacy Manager, Reverand Malawo Matyola, as ZAMSOF chairperson, Mary Tembo-Mhango looks on/Picture by Nkandu Chikonde from Alliance Zambia



“In our African setting, your neighbour’s child is yours too. Because that is your child too, if you notice that child is showing signs of abuse, it is your duty to report the case to authorities and if possible take the victim to the hospital,” Matyola advised.

However, he also urged health workers to be tolerant and patient with victims of GBV.

Matyola condemned an incidence where a young girl was harassed by police on her way to the hospital to collect Ante-retro viral drugs (ARVs) when she was accused of promiscuity.

“Because of the long distance to the centre, this young girl started off to the clinic as early as 04:00 but was stopped by police who accused her of being promiscuous. Such situations should not be allowed to happen. The girls’ only response was ‘I wish I was the causer of this disease, but I was born with it.’ Colleagues in the police force and clinics, let’s be friendly and render the help these victims need,” he added.

Recognising the importance for Civil Society to address GBV, Child Rights and abuses in communities, Alliance Zambia places great importance on the rights of pregnant women and children under the age of 5, to ensure they are not abused.

With support from Save the Children Sweden (SCS) the organisation is currently contributing to Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5; to reduce mortality and morbidity rates for children under five years old in Zambia by 2014 by two thirds and to promote safe motherhood and improve maternal health in Zambia by 2014 and reduce maternal mortality by three quarters respectively. This project is being implemented in Mungule (Chibombo) and Mandevu (Lusaka) through close collaboration with the healthcentres in the respective sites.

In Zambia, cases of mothers miscarrying due to GBV and others who die while pregnant due to the same vice are common.

The National forum which was organised by Zambia Social Forum, under the secretariat of NGOCC, Women for Change (WfC) and Zambia Council for Social Development (ZCSD) also provided eye screening checkups, Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) and testing, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), Male Medical Circumcision and information on Economic Empowerment.

ZAMSOF has been successfully organizing the annual National Social fora in towns and communities of Lusaka, Choma, Kapiri-Mposhi, Monze, Mansa and Chipata since 2003.

One of its many objectives includes improving participation of the general citizenry in the policy making processes of the area Members of Parliament by ensuring those peoples’ voices are registered at the national, regional and continental levels.

“Our mission is to promote and facilitate sustainable, socio-economic Development through collaboration and networking among NGOs, Community Based Organisations (CBO’s) and other stakeholders,” explained ZAMSOF chairperson, Mary-Tembo Mhango. PYM

 

Inadequate staff to hamper Measles Campaign

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

As Zambia’s Fourth National Measles campaign kick-starts from September 10 to 15, 2012, challenges of staff may hamper the K34billion Campaign budget allocated by the government to vaccinate children.

Areas like Ndola have reported having a short-fall of staff by over 50 per cent to carry out the immunisation campaign.

Recently, the Ndola District Medical Office reported that there were only 120 out of the 290 staff needed. The district would fail to meet its target of 240, 000 children if the number of staff was not beefed up.

Measles is a highly contagious viral disease, which affects mostly children. It is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons. It is one of the major causes of childhood morbidity and mortality in children under the age of five if not well treated.

The ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Welfare is targeting about seven million children, inclusive of those who had been vaccinated before.  

According to experts, the first dose given to a baby at nine months old does not develop the protective response in some children, hence the need for a second dose which increases the protective response in children and likelihood of immunity.

In its latest report, the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that the number of deaths from measles has declined by about three-quarters over a decade, 200-2010. However, most deaths were recorded in India and Africa, where fewchildren are immunised.

More than 9.6 million children were saved from dying from measles between the said period, after big vaccination campaigns were rolled out.PYM.