… as she goes begging in streets with three-week old infant
By Beverly Bizeki
A 21-year-old wheelchair-bound Vonai Mauzane who is mother to a three-week-old infant is appealing for assistance from good Samaritans in form of food and clothes for her and the infant.
Mauzane roams the town of Masvingo begging for food and says at times she goes for three or four days without a proper meal and that is affecting her production of breast milk for her child.
Narrating the story of her life, she says she has gone through a lot and now has three children under her care that is her three-week-old daughter, and two other boys aged 11 and 9 who are her partner’s nephews.
Mauzane said the biggest challenge she has is providing the bare minimum such as breast milk for her infant at times and food for her family of four.
“The situation is so dire that we can go for days without food, making me fail to breastfeed. The two children that I stay with are also exposed to this situation with no food and no proper clothes. When my body fails to produce breast milk, I am forced to put her down and watch her cry as there is not much I can do to help her.
“I am also in need of clothes for the baby and everyone else in the family. I also have challenges in accessing water when my husband or the other two children are not around to fetch water for use at home from the borehole which is a distance,” said Mauzane.
She said the family of four stays in Victoria Ranch, one of Masvingo’s new suburbs in an incomplete house with no floor or proper windows and they were even failing to pay US$20 monthly rentals and have since been given an eviction notice.
Her partner is a 53-year-old man who sells catapults in town and cannot get enough to put food on the table from the business.
“My partner makes a living through selling catapults and hardly makes enough to feed the family let alone pay rent and we have been given an eviction notice from the house after failing to pay rent for about three months. The house, however, has no window panes, doors, or a floor. We make use of the few blankets that we have to make it comfortable for the baby and us,” she said.
Mauzane makes a living from begging in the streets of Masvingo and is forced to travel for several kilometers to town in her wheelchair with the help of the two children she lives with. Basics like sanitary wear, proper blankets, clothing, and education are not basic after all to her family.
Mauzane who was born disabled was left in her paternal grandmother’s care at three years old after her mother decided to move on with her life after divorcing her father while she was pregnant with her.
Mauzane could not go to school and had to spend 20 years of her life without a wheelchair depending on being lifted by others from one point to another.
“I could not attend school because my grandmother was blind and could not afford to pay for my school fees. I never had a wheelchair and depended on being lifted by others for movement otherwise I would just use my hands to walk around and do other things for myself.
“Life got difficult for me when I had a misunderstanding with my uncle (Her father’s young brother) at home and I had to leave and find somewhere to stay. I went to Zvishavane where I stayed in a police camp before going to Jairos Jiri Association where I was transferred to Bulawayo.
“In Bulawayo, I attended school at Jairos Jiri where I was taking a dressmaking course for one term but could not proceed after failing to get the groceries required at the school.
“I left for Harare where I was also told that I could not attend school without proper verification that I was a student,” said Mauzane.
Mauzane left for Masvingo where she then met her 53-year-old boyfriend, the father of her child while living in the streets at Mucheke Bus Terminus.
“When I left Harare I came to Masvingo and stayed at the Mucheke Rank. In May last year I met my partner and fell pregnant with my child. Life as a pregnant mom with disability made me to start depending on others again for movement as I could not do the chores I usually did for myself,” said Mauzane.
She had challenges accessing the hospital too where she was registered for prenatal care as it is far from where she stays and never made it on time to the hospital.
Mauzane says she wishes she can get assistance for her two nephews to be able to go to school and get an education which she herself could not get.
She dreams of the day she will be able to read and write like girls her age and be able to work for herself and have a decent lifestyle.
She says she is able to cook and clean for herself when she is in good health although at the moment she is still recovering from postpartum sickness and looks up to the two boys to help her with some of the house chores.
The wheelchair that she is using was given to her by one well-wisher who saw her being carried by her partner in town, however it is no longer in good condition as it often breaks and has one foot paddle missing.
Those who wish to assist Mauzane can contact her on +263 777 353 709.
