The Blind Child

Experiences Public Life (Based on a True Story)

The book highlights the problems and challenges encountered by disabled people especially the blind in their endeavour to climb the social ladder. It is a portrayal of the negative attitude among the public at large towards disability. Society associates disabled people with failure and under achievement which is of course untrue. The book is indeed an autobiography of the author himself as he struggled with social prejudices and marginalisation in country where there was scarcity of resources. The main character Tarutamba is Rudo himself and Mutsai is his wife Mukai. The book shows how vulnerable visually impaired people are. They are taken advantage of by playmates, family members and other misguided members of the society. It should be remembered that visual impairment is in the eyes and therefore blind people are capable of doing a lot of things which do not require sight. Males can impregnant whilst females can be impregnanted. The account also tries to give encouragement to those members of society who are disabled and therefore render themselves useless. The book is also a mirror of social practices and beliefs of the people of Belingwe in Zimbabwe. Its other aspect is the manner in which the way of the natives life is disrupted by the advent of the white men.