Last week I wrote a story that touched people from far and wide. A mother and her 17-year-old disabled son were evicted from their flat after the building was auctioned. People from as far as Germany and London got in touch with me to find out what they could do to assist this woman, Lucia Mdluli. In a world where people are primarily concerned about taking care of Number 1, I must say I was pleasantly surprised and my faith in people doing good was definitely restored.
South Africa is torn along racial lines but people across the racial divide came forward with money and offers for free accommodation. Lucia spent almost a week sleeping in the cold with a son who has a bad chest, among other complications.
Amidst all this goodwill, there were of course those that never
feel good unless they have put in an ugly word to break someone’s heart. Some people questioned why this woman was not sending her son to a home. They said she was capitalising on her son’s disability in order to get sympathy and everything that came with it from the public.
I disagreed because I believe no child should ever be separated from his mother if the situation can be helped. People dump their disabled children on the streets, in hospitals, and at institutions for the disabled sometimes not because that’s where they will get the best care. It is extremely difficult to look after a disabled child and even the best mothers in the world would gladly pass on the burden to someone else.
There are lots of cultural stigmas attached to disability, especially in Africa. Your friends shun you and relatives also avoid you like the plague. Pregnant women spit inside their jerseys to avoid having a child with similar disabilities, nobody likes disability. So if there are mothers out there who are willing to be shunned, to wash terry nappies of 17-year-old children, by all means let them be allowed to do so for such mothers are few and far between.
Even if she does benefit from her son’s condition, so be it. She has earned, she has lost so, so much and missed out on life as she takes care of him. I raise my glass to all Lucias in the world.
charlottechipangura 