Changing attitudes and supporting those living with disability in Tanzania

The Tanzania Methodist Church is changing attitudes toward and supporting people living with disabilities. The ministry has supported more than 500 people so far with open air meetings and seminars, explaining that the Love of God is for everyone and that disability is not ‘a curse’.

In Tanzania, as elsewhere in the world including Britain, disability can sometimes be associated with prejudice and negative attitudes and those living with disabilities can experience rejection and exclusion. In Tanzania this is especially the case in rural communities.

The discrimination can even extend to families, increasing the marginalization of those living with disability and causing financial and emotional hardship to those who are abandoned. The Tanzania Methodist Church is trying to overcome this by teaching people entrepreneurship to develop suitable businesses and become more self-sufficient while working to change the attitudes towards those who are disabled.

Rev Petro Kasululu, Programme Director of the Community Based Rehabilitation Project, at the Tanzania Methodist Church commented, “We are preaching in communities and telling people that disability is not a curse but something that can happen to anyone from birth or by an accident.

“Sometimes the head of the family will leave due to someone having a disability.  We support these families with food to prevent them going hungry and ensure they are not alone. Many people have changed their mindset about disability as a result of our work, while those living with disability are encouraged, some receiving Jesus as their Savior and attending church.”

We give thanks for the work of the Tanzania Methodist Church and other churches around the world who are combatting the stigma and exclusion that disabled people can experience.

This work has been supported by the World Mission Fund. Through WMP, Irish Methodists make an annual contribution to the World Mission Fund.