By Ndinatsei Mavodza
MASVINGO – Just outside the entrance of OK Supermarket Masvingo, vendors line the
pavement selling everything from fresh fruits and peanuts to clothing items and household
goods. Among them sits 48-year-old Rabecca Chisenga in her wheelchair, carefully arranging
combs, brushes, towels, foot powder and toothbrushes for passing customers.
For many shoppers rushing into the supermarket, Chisenga is simply another vendor but
behind her daily routine lies a deeply painful story of determination, resilience, and
homelessness.
Chisenga developed Poliomyelitis, a viral disease that can damage the nervous system and
cause paralysis while she was in Grade 3.
The illness affected both her legs and hands, leaving her with a mobility disability that has
required her to use a wheelchair since childhood. Despite this challenge, she has built a way
to support herself through vending in the Masvingo city centre.
However, what many passersby do not know is that when the sun sets and the vendors pack
away their goods, Chisenga has no home to return to. She sleeps on the cold pavements
where she sells during the day, enduring scorching heat, pouring rain, and chilly winter nights
with only the open sky as her roof.
Chisenga hails from Shurugwi, but both her parents are deceased. She has siblings who are
deeply against her living on the streets, but she says she cannot bring herself to become a
burden to their families.
She said she came to Masvingo after a friend asked her to come so that she can take her to
South Africa where she could beg, but she met some people who advised her against it saying
she could be trafficked for ritual murders.
“I have siblings who care about me and do not want me to live on the streets. But they have
their own families to look after. I cannot move into their homes and become an extra problem
for them to solve. That is why I decided to work for myself, so that I can depend on my own
efforts,” she said.
The rural home in Shurugwi, she explained, is not conducive for a wheelchair user. The
gravel and sandy roads make mobility nearly impossible without an assistant to push her
through the rough terrain.
“Back home, the roads are not paved. My wheelchair cannot move easily on sand and gravel.
I would need someone to push me everywhere I go. Here in town, there are pavements which
ease my mobility. I can move around on my own, even if it is slow,” Chisenga said.
Getting to her vending spot each morning is not always easy. Public transport is not designed
to accommodate people using wheelchairs and as a result, Chisenga has to rely on the
kindness of kombi drivers and conductors.
“I depend on kombi drivers and conductors to help lift me and my wheelchair into the kombi.
This wheelchair can be folded, which makes it easier to carry. Some wheelchairs cannot be
folded and take up too much space,” she said.
Once she arrives in town, she also gets help from someone who assists her in navigating to
her stall. Weather conditions present another challenge for the vendor.
“When it rains or when the sun is too hot, it becomes difficult because we work outside,” she
said.
When night falls and the city grows quiet, Chisenga faces her greatest challenge – finding a
place to sleep. She dreams of staying in a proper home but cannot find accommodation
suitable for a wheelchair user. She revealed that few people want to rent to her, and the few
rooms she has found had steps which she cannot navigate.
“I want to stay in a proper house like everyone else. But when I look for rooms to rent, people
refuse me when they see I am in a wheelchair. The few who have accepted me, their houses
had steps at the entrance. I cannot go up steps. I need a place where I can roll in and out
freely,” she explained.
With nowhere else to go, she spends her nights on the pavements where she sells during the
day, exposed to all weather conditions.
“Sleeping outside is hard. When it rains, I get wet. When it is cold, I shiver the whole night.
But what can I do? I have no other place to go,” she said softly.
Chisenga attended the Jairos Jiri Association and later trained at the Danhiko Project,
institutions that support people with disabilities. These institutions equipped her with skills
and the determination to fend for herself rather than beg on the streets.
Chisenga’s story shows the daily reality faced by many people with disabilities who depend
on Zimbabwe’s informal economy for survival. With limited access to formal employment
and infrastructure that is rarely designed with accessibility in mind, simply getting to work
and finding shelter can be daily battles.
As Zimbabwe joins the world in celebrating Women’s Month in March and prepares to
commemorate International Women’s Day, Chisenga’s story reflects the resilience of many
women in Masvingo who quietly work each day to support themselves despite overwhelming
challenges.
Through her experience, she hopes to inspire others living with disabilities while appealing to
the public for assistance.
“I want to encourage others who may be disabled. Being disabled does not mean you cannot
think. We can work and support ourselves if given a chance,” she said.
She made a passionate plea to members of the public for any form of assistance, but primarily
for accommodation suitable for a wheelchair user.
“I am not asking for handouts. I just want a decent place to sleep at night. A place where I
can roll in easily, without steps. If anyone has a room that I can afford, or if someone can
assist me with accommodation, my life would change,” she pleaded.
She also appealed to passersby to at least buy from her so that she can continue to fend for
herself. For Chisenga, every day at her stall is another opportunity to prove that disability
does not define a person’s ability to work and contribute to the community.
Those willing to assist Rabecca Chisenga with accommodation or any other form of support
can contact her directly on 0782605484 or contact TellZim News on 0719355808.
