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The invisible face of disability
In the collective imagination, disability is often perceived as an individual anomaly, a mere accident of journey.
But in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Senegal, it takes on a completely different dimension: a social scourge deeply rooted in the deficiencies of the health system, chronic poverty, cultural burdens and institutional indifference.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, about 15 per cent of the world's population lives with disabilities, but this figure rises in low-income countries, where precarious living conditions and limited access to care significantly increase the risk of disability.
In Senegal, official statistics remain fragmented, but local surveys and observations on the ground show an overwhelming reality: thousands of people, often young, live with physical, sensory or mental disabilities without any support or social recognition.
In the streets of Dakar as in remote countryside, disability often manifests itself through a tragic image: that of a broken body, exposed to the sight of passers-by, asking for something to survive.
This spectacle, which has become almost banal, hides a much larger human tragedy: exclusion, psychological suffering, exploitation, and, above all, silence. This article intends to lift this veil, to make visible those who prefer to ignore.
The structural causes of disability in Africa
Disability is not born in a vacuum. In Senegal, as in many African countries, it is the result of a combination of preventable factors that demonstrate the structural failures of society.
Major health deficiencies
One of the main causes of disability in Senegal is the inadequacy of the health system. Lack of immunization, including poliomyelitis and measles, still exposes children to preventable diseases in other parts of the world.
Many cases of motor disability are caused by ill-treatment or post-infectious complications.
Lack of medical follow-up during pregnancy and at birth also contributes to congenital disabilities. The lack of gynaecologists, prenatal screening equipment, and deliveries in precarious conditions cause irreversible trauma to the newborn.
In addition, there are the consequences of road accidents, which are often serious due to poor infrastructure and the lack of rapid rescue services. Many young people become paraplegic or amputated after poorly managed accidents.
Malnutrition and chronic diseases
Child malnutrition, still too common in rural areas and underprivileged urban areas, can have a lasting impact on the physical and mental development of children.
Similarly, diseases such as cerebral malaria, poorly treated infections, or exposure to lead in some mining environments have severe neurological sequelae.
Inbreeding and inheritance
In some parts of Senegal, inbreeding remains culturally accepted, despite the increased genetic risks they pose. This practice, with little regulation, increases the likelihood of genetic disabilities and birth defects.
Conflicts, violence and crises
Although Senegal is largely spared from civil wars, some disabilities are also linked to physical violence (domestic accidents, abuse, mutilation) or psychological consequences of childhood trauma.
Casamance, in particular, has long been affected by an armed conflict with anti-personnel mines, whose legacy is still visible.
Double punishment: marginalization and poverty
Living with a disability in Senegal does not only mean facing physical limitations. It is also, and above all, facing systemic social marginalization.
People with disabilities are too often perceived as beings. « unnecessary » in a society still largely based on physical performance and manual productivity.
School exclusion
School, which is supposed to be a lever of inclusion, often becomes a space for exclusion. In the absence of adequate infrastructure (ramps, accessible toilets, specialized teaching materials), few disabled children have access to formal education.
Teachers, poorly trained in the care of students with disabilities, reinforce this involuntary rejection.
As a result, a majority of these children are out of school at an early age, condemning them to poverty, dependency and begging. School inclusion, though enshrined in the legal texts, remains in practice a distant objective.
Mass unemployment
The lack of training, combined with stigma, closes the doors of the world of work to people with disabilities.
The public sector employs very few workers with disabilities, and the private sector, already under economic pressure, often sees them as a burden rather than an opportunity.
The result is high unemployment among adults with disabilities. Few retraining or entrepreneurship support programmes are targeted at them.
Mendicity and instrumentalization of disability
In the streets of Dakar, Thiès, Kaolack or Saint-Louis, the same spectacle is repeated every day: children and adults with disabilities, installed on the ground, reach out to passers-by.
Some show their infirmity, others sing or recite prayers, hoping to touch the generosity of compassionate hearts.
This reality, deeply rooted in the Senegalese urban landscape, is not the result of chance. It results from an informal, sometimes organized system that exploits the vulnerability of persons with disabilities for survival... or profit.
A perverse tradition
The begging of persons with disabilities is often justified by extreme poverty. But it is also encouraged or even imposed by certain social traditions.
In the popular imagination, people with disabilities are seen as beings « elected » or « bearers of blessings »whose physical suffering would allow others to atone for their faults or attract divine grace.
Thus, instead of promoting their inclusion, some condemn them to a mysterious role as beggars, supposed to touch the mercy or faith of the faithful.
This instrumentalisation of disability is all the more pernicious as it is rooted in a fatalistic vision: « God wanted it to be this way », it is said, to justify inaction and abandonment.
The role of certain families and religious figures
In some cases, disabled children are sent to the street by their own families. In the absence of means or resignation, parents urge them to beg as the only way to contribute to the household income.
Others entrust them to religious figures (marabouts, daara leaders) who exploit them in begging networks under the guise of Koranic teaching.
These children may also be displaced from one city to another, without care, without medical attention, sleeping on the street or in unhealthy conditions. Their disability becomes a cost-effective tool in a dehumanizing survival system.
Disquieting standardization
The most worrying in this phenomenon is its trivialization. Many people, seeing these scenes, turn their eyes away or slip a piece by habit, without asking themselves any more questions.
The authorities often close their eyes because of the lack of solutions for rehousing or concrete social support.
Society, for its part, is accustomed to this form of begging until it is regarded as a norm.
V. Testimonials and human realities
Behind every bruised body, every look down, hides a story. The one of this very young girl born with cerebral palsy, abandoned by her father and entrusted to an aunt who sends him to beg in front of a mosque in Dakar. She doesn't talk much, but her silence says everything.
Or that of this young adult, amputated a leg after a motorcycle accident. Former mechanic, he lost his job because he could not move easily. Without training or compensation, he ended up on the street. His dream? « Work again, even sitting down. »
Or that of this woman, who has been visually impaired since childhood, who had the chance to meet an association that trained in sewing. Today, she runs a small workshop and employs two other disabled people. It proves that exclusion is not inevitable: if supported.
These stories are many, painful, but also bearers of hope. They recall that behind each disabled person is a person with talents, dreams, dignity.
Local initiatives and avenues of hope
In the face of this situation, voices arise, actions take place, often in the shadows, but with admirable determination.
1. The role of associations
A number of Senegalese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and associations work to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The Senegalese Association for the Promotion of the Blind (ASPA), for example, trains visually impaired young people in the fields of computer science, music or Braille translation.
The NGO Handicap.sn, for its part, develops vocational rehabilitation projects, finances orthopaedic equipment, and organizes awareness campaigns in schools and neighbourhoods.
The commitment of the state... still shy
Senegal had ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and had a number of laws promoting accessibility and inclusion.
However, implementation remains weak: lack of budget, administrative slowness and lack of reliable data.
Some progress has been made, such as the granting of the equal opportunities card, which gives access to some social assistance. But this card remains difficult to obtain for a majority of disabled people, due to bureaucratic burdens.
Inspiring Models
Despite the obstacles, some disabled people are able to break the chains of exclusion. They become teachers, artists, entrepreneurs, activists. Their courageous journey demonstrates that with minimal support, disability must not rhyme with misery.
Inclusive projects are also being developed in the field of education and vocational training, particularly in specialised centres such as Mbour and Rufisque. These centres, which are still too rare, should be multiplied and better funded.
What to do? Advocacy for a change of mind and policy
If disability remains a daily tragedy for thousands of Senegalese, it is not only because of the lack of resources, but also, and above all, because of a blatant lack of political will and social mobilization. Changing this situation requires a complete overhaul of our way of thinking and acting.
Changing the collective look
Above all, deep-rooted stereotypes must be broken. Disability is neither a curse nor a divine punishment nor a justification for exclusion or begging. It is a human condition, universal, that can concern anyone, at any time of life.
Awareness-raising campaigns must be increased in schools, the media and places of worship. The values of solidarity, inclusion and respect for difference must be taught from an early age. Public figures and religious leaders can play a decisive role in changing attitudes.
Training and equipping institutions
The Senegalese state must go far beyond speeches. There is an urgent need to equip hospitals with functional rehabilitation services, orthopaedic equipment and qualified personnel. The prevention of preventable disabilities (vaccination, prenatal screening, neonatal care) must be a top priority.
Schools must be made accessible, both architecturally and pedagogically. This involves the construction of ramps, the adaptation of learning materials, the training of teachers to specific needs, and the presence of school life assistants.
Inserting the disabled into the economic fabric
Disability must no longer be a factor of occupational exclusion. Hiring quotas must be imposed in public enterprises and encouraged in the private sector. Micro-entrepreneurial projects for people with disabilities must benefit from dedicated funding, tax relief and training.
Vocational training centres must integrate inclusive programmes, allowing young people with disabilities to learn a trade according to their abilities, not according to their limitations.
Combating forced begging
The begging of disabled people, especially children, can no longer be tolerated as a cultural fatality. It must be fought by a firm and humane public policy. This implies:
- Actions to withdraw from the street followed by real social care;
- The empowerment of families, with socio-educational support;
- The regulation of daaras and the formal prohibition of exploitation of disabled children.
It is not a question of repressing, but of proposing concrete alternatives: foster homes, scholarships, vocational training and conditional social benefits.
Involve civil society
Finally, mobilization cannot be based solely on the state. Associations, artists, journalists, religious leaders, companies, everyone has a role to play. Support local initiatives, sponsor disabled children, finance equipment, promote inclusive employment: there are many levers for action.
Rethinking our humanity in the face of disability
Disability in Senegal, as in many African countries, is not only a medical or economic challenge. It is a mirror of our humanity, of our capacity — or our incapacity — take care of the most vulnerable.
As long as disabled children are left on the sidewalk, as long as mutilated adults have to bequeath for food, as long as the laws remain dead letter, our society will bear a share of responsibility in this silent tragedy.
But it is possible to hope.
It is possible to build an inclusive, inclusive Senegal, where every citizen has a place, regardless of his or her physical or mental challenges. This begins with a change of sight, continues with bold policies, and is accomplished in daily acts of respect, justice and love.
It's time to stop looking.
