Traditional Healers’ Workshop
Traditional healers have a strong influence on community beliefs and practices. Although some support and advocate for children with disabilities, many others conduct harmful “healing” practices and share inaccurate information that encourages discrimination, neglect, abuse, or even murder of these children.
Many of these leaders also encourage families to pursue spiritual remedies instead of medical care, leading to increased morbidity and mortality among children with disabilities.
Kuhenza for the Children’s Disability Outreach & Inclusion Workshop for Traditional Healers was developed to educate and empower traditional healers to better support children with disabilities and their families.
By drawing on participants’ beliefs and experiences related to disability, the workshop also guides them through the process of developing a compassionate, inclusive response, tailored to their communities’ unique context. We have seen hundreds of traditional healers complete this workshop with a commitment and concrete plans to improve medical care and referrals for people living with disabilities in their communities.
The impact of these commitments has been astounding–-thousands of people with disabilities have gained access to high-quality medical care and, as a result, experienced improved health, mobility, communication skills, confidence, and independence.
The results from this workshop are lifesaving and long-standing. It changes the landscape for people with disabilities by empowering traditional healers to provide effective support and lead a compassionate response to those living with disabilities in their communities.