Credit: Alaafiabami Oladipupo (Haylad), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
For just a moment, imagine living a life where you stayed at home over 90% of the time. This wasn’t necessarily a choice; it was a limitation caused by infrastructure that did not consider the mobility or independence of wheelchair users. That was the limited life that my cousin knew. For the sake of this story, we’ll call her Joy (a personality trait she personified, even though her circumstances often seemed unfair).
Joy grew up in Zimbabwe and was a wheelchair user from a very young age. Despite having mobility limitations, she was one of the happiest people I knew. She would light up any room with her smile and was always thrilled to see us when our family visited. However, because I was so young, it took me many years to realize just how tied to home she truly was.
At Home, Everyone Had Access
One visit in the mid-2000s changed that. My parents had brought Joy to spend some time at our family house. From the moment she entered the room, she erupted into that familiar loud but gentle giggle. Inside the house, she would leave her wheelchair in the garage and use her arms to navigate the space, a remarkable skill that gave her a sense of independence within those walls. I had previously never fully grasped the complexities of her wheelchair use, nor how much it limited her ability to go places.
But Public Spaces Were Not Designed for Joy
Then came the question I still remember vividly: “What about Joy?” We were planning to go out to dinner, and suddenly the room fell silent. My dad gently explained that the restaurant we had been invited to didn’t have the capacity to accommodate her wheelchair. That moment shifted something in my young mind. I started noticing how many spaces we visited failed to cater to wheelchair users. Family gathering places, shops, and even washrooms would commonly have narrow doorways, stairs without ramps, and inaccessible layouts.
It’s sad that Zimbabwe, a country that has over 2.25 million people living with disabilities, does not cater to their independence. Inaccessible spaces contribute to social exclusion, forcing many wheelchair users to rely on family or friends for even the simplest activities, such as opening doors or accessing transportation.
Credit: Global Disability Statistics, World Health Organization, via Medium
It Doesn’t Take Much To Think, Behave, and Build Inclusively
Accessibility does not require extraordinary measures. What it needs is inclusive planning, awareness, and small but meaningful design changes. True inclusion isn’t just about being present; it’s about all people being able to live, participate, and belong, regardless of ability. Zimbabwe can look to neighboring countries to see that it is possible to achieve more inclusive planning and accessibility through policy and advocacy. The National Disability Council of Namibia works to develop legislative frameworks to improve conditions for people with disabilities. In South Africa, a recently proposed Protection and Promotion of Persons with Disabilities bill aims to ensure equality and accessibility for all people with disabilities.
Zimbabwe has made efforts toward disability inclusion, yet progress remains slow and inconsistent. As people with disabilities and their allies continue to work together to build a more inclusive Zimbabwe and a more inclusive world, people like Joy will be able to live with more dignity, independence, and choice.
This article was written by a guest contributor.
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