Strengthening confidence for persons with disabilities to overcome challenges

As a person living with a disability and orphaned at a young age, Margaret’s life was marked by immense challenges. Life became miserable for her without her parents, and she often thought she couldn’t make it without them. With no one to sponsor her at school, she was forced to halt her education. However, a transformative turn came for Margaret when she joined VCDP in 2021.

VCDP established a group of 25 people with disabilities in Margaret’s community to do cassava farming, and she joined. The project helped group members acquire access to land and provided them with start-up inputs needed for cassava production. Margaret was able to rent 1.5 hectares of land, and VCDP supported her with fertilizer, pesticide and 50 bundles of certified cassava stems (15,000 stems). In that way, she became a cassava farmer. Margaret used her earnings from her first harvest to buy inputs and pay labour for cultivating the next crop.

The thing she is most proud of is that she was able to re-enrol in school, where she is studying mass communications and interning as a radio talk show host. She is also a talented hairdresser and baker, plaiting hair and baking shortbread to supplement her farming income. “People living with disability should not limit themselves from doing anything they want to do in life. They should be confident and have faith that life will become better. Keep an open mind and have the courage to accept help from those who wish to help. I thank IFAD and VCDP for enabling me to become the person I am today.” “IFAD and VCDP have put a smile on my face. They supported me to become who I wanted to be in life.”