A video has emerged online showing a homestead in Tharaka Nithi county where children living with disabilities had been caged and tethered like animals.
A resident speaking to Nation commented that their mothers face lots of difficulties in raising the children and only depend on well-wishers for survival
He also revealed that the children had no access to education. Efforts to seek medical attention had also struck a dead end.
“Ukifikiria mzazi kuchukua mtoto amfunge ama kumjengea nyumba kama mbuzi, amekuwa mzigo mzito sana. (If you think about it, for a parent to build a shed for their child and tie them like a goat, it means they have become a huge burden),” lamented another resident.
The locals urged the government to build a rehabilitation center for children living with disabilities to help educate parents on how to take care of kids with special needs.
Parents hide their disabled children from the public as they fear stigmatisation.
The video elicited a lot of reactions from netizens who faulted the county government for the prevailing situation.
Others called on well-wishers to chip in and help both the family and the less able children from the condition they were in.
According to a report released in September 2018, 37 percent of mothers who gave birth to children with disabilities were pressured into killing them.
A further 93 percent left the hospital after giving birth without doctors telling them about their child's condition and how to care for special needs.
A joint report by the Kenya Institute of Special Education and the Ministry of Education conducted between 2016 and 2017 showed that Kenya was still ill-equipped to support disabled learners.
Here is the video courtesy of Daily Nation.
