© Timothy Buckley/CARE

Today is International Day of People with Disability. People with disabilities are so often overlooked, but are amongst the most vulnerable members of a community. Josafina is one of them.

59-year-old Josafina lost her leg in 2012, and since then has struggled to make ends meet. She lives in Tanzania, where nearly half the population lives below the poverty line. Her disability makes working and farming almost impossible for her.

“It started like a small wound on my foot and it went up and up and took my whole leg,” she explains. As a mother of six children, Josafina struggles to make enough income to support herself and her family.

CARE started the Growing is Learning project in Josafina’s village, and makes every effort to ensure people with disabilities are included, and have support structures in place to help them receive the best help possible.

The project supports women farmers to improve their crop yields, their family’s nutrition and to increase their income. CARE provides the farmers with soy seeds for planting, as well as training in efficient farming techniques, and establishes connections to local markets so farmers can sell their surplus in bulk.

The project offers a tailored approach to its training and support services so that people with disabilities can participate fully.

Growing is Learning connects people with disabilities to local village leaders, market buyers and sellers to bridge any gaps that prevent them from earning an income. CARE works with each participant to understand their individual challenges and goals – whether they face difficulty with physical barriers, like a lack of ramps or assistive devices like wheelchairs, or social challenges like community discrimination or stigma.

The project is committed to finding solutions that help make farming easier, as well as educating the broader community about disability rights and inclusion.

Thanks to our generous supporters, women like Josafina can plant soy, and in just 12 weeks will have enough to make nutritious meals for their families, and can start earning an income.

Read more about our work with rural women in Tanzania.