In the streets of the Ethiopian capital hundreds of disabled people beg, some from makeshift wheelchairs, the less fortunate dragging themselves on their hands from car to car.
Disabled people are seldom taken care of by institutions here; mostly they are either left to their own devices on the street or kept behind closed doors because their families are ashamed of them.
“The traditional perception is that a child with disabilities is the result of a curse, or the work of the devil,” said Fantahun Melles, who heads the International Labour Organization’s programmes for the disabled in Ethiopia.
“The situation is worse in the countryside than in the cities. Generally speaking, people think the only place for a disabled person is in the street to beg or in front of a church, otherwise they are ... segregated from the community, which can lead to serious mental disorders,” he told AFP.
