Society for the mentally-handicapped broke
…Future of mentally-disabled children in jeopardy 
BY TSITSI MATOPE
…MASERU – Lack of adequate funding has forced the Society of Mentally Handicapped Persons to indefinitely suspend some of its programmes amid an influx of disabled children in need of its services.
The Society has – for years – been fighting some superstitious beliefs by some parents, who believed giving birth to a mentally challenged child was a curse or an act of witchcraft, according to the organisation’s executive director, Kgomoco Motsamai.
According to Motsamai, a significant number of parents had – over the years – come to accept their children’s conditions following the Society’s intervention, through its various programmes. However, with the immediate suspension of some critical programmes, the future of these vulnerable children was now in jeopardy.
“Most parents who have come to us over the years have learnt that with unlimited and unconditional love for their mentally-challenged children and continued rehabilitation, some of the problems can be eased and overcome,” Motsamai said. “Unfortunately, due to inadequate funding, the Society has been forced to terminate some of its critical programmes, which could have seen the lives of many of these children being saved.”
So far the Society has stopped training parents on how to deal with their mentally-challenged children, and also shelved construction of a mental health centre in Berea District, due to lack of funds.
“The stoppage of these programmes has affected up to 1,500 handicapped children from eight districts, who were on various support systems,” said Motsamai.
Demand for various services has also shot-up in recent months, the Society said. But despite the rise in demand, the Society has been hit by staff resignation in recent months, leaving the organisation with just two fulltime employees – down from seven permanent staff members – at its Maseru office, who include Motsamai.
“We are only two people left to coordinate the work we are still able to do with the little funding we still have. However, we are worried that we are unable to adequately assist parents currently in need because we have no funding for the type of help they need,” Motsamai said.
She said with the funding they received from a Norwegian organisation, they were only able to do advocacy work at national level.
But Motsamai said advocacy alone could not ease the plight of the affected children and sufficiently empower their parents.
Without enough support, she said, children with mental disability faced many risks, which included abandonment and abuse.
“New diagnoses of ailments such as cerebral palsy or autism are not easy to handle and if help is unavailable, some mothers are sometimes forced to abandon their babies.”
Before their coffers ran dry, the Society had embarked on counseling parents and training mothers and guardians on specialised care.
However, despite the training, some mothers were still finding it hard to leave their children in the care of maids.
“We then decided it was important for us to buy land and establish a centre where parents could leave their children in the custody of trained staff during the day while they went to work,” Motsamai said.
“Last year, the Society used part of its subvention of M36,000 to buy land in Berea District. This centre was supposed to offer various training programmes meant to empower families of affected children and also integrate rehabilitation of children.
“However, construction of the centre has been put on hold until we can mobilise enough funding.
