Disability, Society and Theology: Voices from Africa

Chapter Nineteen: Persons with Disabilities in Madagascar

Persons with Disabilities in Madagascar CHAPTER NINETEEN Persons with Disabilities in Madagascar Ralphine Razaka Introduction W ith a population of over 18 million people, Madagascar has the highest number of inhabitants in the Indian Ocean. It is also ranked among the poorest countries in the world. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report of 2005 places it at position 146 out of 177 countries. Seventy per cent of the population lives under the poverty line (less than one US 1 $ per day). Its human development indicator is 0.499 which is an expression of its growing poverty. Illiteracy rate is very high – 30 per cent in urban, and 60 per cent in rural areas. Living conditions are precarious while basic services like healthcare, education, clean water and electricity are inadequate. Seventy per cent of the total population lives in rural areas despite a rapid expansion of urban centres. The economy of Madagascar has been largely affected by political instability and the energy crisis.According to Handicap International Project (2007)) the general poverty conditions are worse for vulnerable groups and specifically PWDs. Such are the economic and social contexts in which PWDs in Madagascar live. Disability, Society, and Theology Literature on Disability Very few books have been specifically written on disability in Madagascar. Most of what is available is from case studies, guidelines prepared or Projects written either by Handicap International or by associations of PWDs. Information on the situation of PWDs is very limited. No statistics are available. Traditional Beliefs About Disability However, disability is not a new concept to the Malagasy Community. Traditional songs and tales on PWDs prove this fact. According to traditional beliefs, having a PWD in a family was shameful. It was thought to be a curse. To escape such a ‘curse’ the family had to perform a blood sacrifice which at times involved killing the PWD so as to remove the ‘curse’. Other communities believed that PWDs happened where either parents or a family member had sinned, offended or annoyed the ancestors hence the ‘curse’. The ‘disgrace’ of having a PWDs was sometimes extended to the whole community. Moks Razafindramiandra (1994) in his book Le faravavy malemy tells the story of a physically disabled girl who was abandoned by her parents. She later managed to succeed alone in her life Traditional people of Malagasy were very suspicious of any unusual happenings – even without disability. For example, the birth of twin babies in some parts of the island especially the South East is still considered abnormal. There are only three options for such children: they have to be killed, be thrown away or, at best be given to two different persons to nurture them. The Malagasy ancestors also believed in astrology.Any baby could be put to death if the day it was born was considered “bad”. It largely depended on their whims since there were no laws defining what a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ day was. These beliefs and practices cannot be supported by any theological or scientific theories. They only help us to understand how our traditional communities treated PWDs with contempt. Their concepts, mentality and behaviour towards disability and especially PWDs were utterly contemptuous. 316 Persons with Disabilities in Madagascar Medical Definition of Disability The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines disability as any partial or total deficiency of a physical or mental organ(s) in a person causing a permanent loss of the function of the organ. However, this definition is incomplete. To understand disability as a whole, we need to add other dimensions such as social, environmental, political and gender factors. Law no. 97-044 (dated February 1998) on rights of PWDs in Madagascar recognises that the concept of disability is based on a medical understanding. In this law, it is clear from the definitions of disability and all the given provisions that those who conceived it considered only the medical dimension. Compared with the traditional understanding of disability as argued above, the medical dimension is an important evolution in ideology. The details of many medical definitions of disability lack precision. Those who attempt to define the term fail to clearly differentiate impairment, deficiency and disability. In my opinion, impairment indicates any partial or total failure in the physical or mental constitution and functioning of an organ or limb in a person’s body. Deficiency on the other hand is the result of the impairment which prevents the person from...