CATHERINE MUROMBEDZI
HEALTH CORRESPONDENT

A mother’s love is like a beacon of hope, shining bright in the darkest of times, guiding and inspiring others to find their way too. It is empowering to others facing similar circumstances to conquer their own challenges. It is a selfless act of love at a time.
A mother to two boys with autism turned her pain to offering psycho social support to parents of children with special needs.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Make your own sunshine.
Sihle Nyashanu bridges the gap as she makes her lived realities stepping stones for others. Ubuntu states, “I am, because we are.”
“I’m thrilled to share my journey with Safe Haven Zimbabwe, an organisation I founded to support parents and children with special needs. As a mother of two boys with autism, I understand the challenges and triumphs that come with it. In 2014, I received divine instruction to open a school for children like mine, and despite initial uncertainty, I obeyed.

“My experience as a special needs parent literally gave birth to Safe Haven Zimbabwe. The huge gaps within our education system and inadequate general support for special parents, especially those who have children affected by autism had a huge role to play in this,” said Nyashanu.
“Today, Safe Haven Zimbabwe is a registered Private Voluntary Organization (PVO) with the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, offering psycho-social support to parents and specialised care to children with autism and related neurological disorders. We have a membership of nearly 1,000 and operate a facility that provides basic academics and adaptive skills training for children who can not cope in mainstream education.
“I’m grateful for my husband’s unwavering support and thank God for his presence in my life. Our own children have grown up. We are thrilled that our 21-year-old son completed A Level and is studying Office Administration, while our 17-year-old son continues to make steady progress,” said Nyashanu.
Because of how we are socialized, many parents may believe that their child is bewitched. They visit faith healers and sangomas. All this further strains family relationships as fingers are pointed.
“It is not surprising that some parents think that their child is bewitched. Sadly, if parents do not seek medical help, the effects of the condition may become very difficult to manage. Early intervention is so important when it comes to autism,” said Nyashanu.
STIGMA A BARRIER
Nyashanu sees stigma as a barrier for parents who fail to come out.
“Parents of children affected by autism face a lot of stigma. Before people judge another parent’s parenting, it is important to first ask what’s happening before concluding that the child is spoilt. Vanhu vanongoti mwana uyu akaregererwa or saying things like kusarohwa uku!!! Yet there is more to it than what is being seen. It’s wrong to judge without understanding. No one should judge anyone. People are going through a lot,” said Nyashanu.
“My eldest son is mildly affected. My family didn’t face as many challenges with him as compared to my younger son, who was on the severe end of the spectrum. We failed to get information as to what was happening. Autism can not be seen by the eye like other conditions. One gets to notice a lag in meeting developmental milestones. We visited many medical practitioners. None could really tell us what was going on until we were referred to one of the old experienced pediatricians in Harare. He then referred us to go to South Africa for a diagnosis and way forward. That resulted in my son and I relocating to South Africa for 16 months (Sept 2012 to Dec 2013) as he received help. After 16 months, I came back home with a different child. He now had 31 words he could say. One of the most challenging behaviours we experienced was the throwing of huge tantrums and meltdowns.
“Because of failure to express himself he would bang his head on the wall or on the floor. A multi disciplinary team at the school he got enrolled at in SA was able to help him and do away with the head banging. The tantrums and meltdowns greatly decreased as he was now able to have some way of communicating his needs and wants. The school he attended has been our role model. We have tried to implement their model back home at Safe Haven Zimbabwe,” said Nyashanu.
“Since there wasn’t any similar school back home, we had to make-do with what was available. When we got back home, we enrolled him at one of the special schools in Harare. Unfortunately, he started to regress, going back to almost where we were before going to SA. This is because he was no longer receiving autism specific interventions. We then decided to pull him out of school and home schooled him. I tried to put into practice what I had learned whilst in SA. We figured that things could not get any worse as he was already regressing. I then decided to get as much information as I could in order to help my son. In addition to the specific autism training I received, I then changed my profession altogether to get into teaching,” she explained.
LEARNING NEW ROPES
No one is too old to learn something new if the will is there.
“I enrolled to do a BSc in Special Education in 2015 and last year (2023), I graduated with an Msc in Special Education. I would try and test everything I learned at school on my son. Some things I learned worked, and others not so much,” said Nyashanu.
Many people have no understanding of autism.
“In terms of autism awareness, I believe it is still an area needing a lot of work to be done. Some in the medical fraternity are still not really aware of what it is, though it has somewhat improved as compared to when my son was still young. Our organization has also contributed to awareness campaigns. Awareness is a journey with no arrival station,” she called.
Nyashanu appeals for assessment centres to cater for more.
“There’s still need for our government, the Ministry of Health and Child Care, to assist us by setting up more assessment clinics across the country at all our major government hospitals. Right now, the clinics that are there are in Harare at Parirenyatwa Annex and at Sally Mugabe Hospital. Some of the caregivers who have listened to the awareness campaigns we have done on radio and TV over the years have had to come all the way to Harare for assessment and diagnosis. On a positive note, I am also happy that the University of Zimbabwe is now offering a degree in Speech Therapy. This will definitely ease the burden of access to speech therapy services that was beyond the reach of many families with children affected by autism. “Before this, we had very few qualified Speech Therapists as they had to train in South Africa. Not all of them would come back home after graduating.
“Hopefully as more graduate, our major hospitals will have speech therapists. Speech therapy is such an important rehabilitation program that those affected by autism can not do without. In terms of schooling, it is high time we look at global trends and see how we can adapt our educational facilities. This will ensure that all children, including those with autism get to exercise their right to education,” she said.
TAILOR-MADE EDUCATION
Nyashanu spelled out that education must be appropriate to improve a student.
“For those with autism it’s not just being in school but receiving appropriate education that addresses the challenges that come with autism. There’s also a need for our teacher training programmes to adequately cover disability issues, especially autism. Most of the teachers in mainstream schools come into contact with some children who are like my eldest son. He was mild and fit into mainstream schooling but with appropriate support mechanisms put in place specifically designed for him,” she urged.
“As Safe Haven Zimbabwe, we are working towards establishing a vocational skills training center where our children get skills for income generating projects.
“The centre will serve as a place they will continue learning and be with others. This will be a safe space since not all of them are able to independently carry out projects given how severe they are,” advised Nyashanu.
Safe Haven Zimbabwe does not charge any fee to those interested in joining their support groups.
“We are big on training our children to be as independent as possible. We place importance on adaptive skills, which are not normally included in mainstream schools and most of other special schools.
This is in light of the fact that special parents are not here forever, hence the urgent need of equipping their children with crucial skills to lessen the burden of caregivers doing everything for them.
“Our adaptive skills’ activities range from bathing, brushing of teeth, sweeping, mopping, laundry, washing of dishes. We basically train our children in all chores that any child is expected to do within the home. Because autism is a complex condition that presents with a lot of behavioural challenges, it is important to note that education for those with autism requires a multi-disciplinary approach. Thus, it is not the usual way education is done for those in mainstream or other conditions. Our specialised facility has different disciplines ranging from those who have done special education, social work, child development psychology and speech therapy that work together in order to help our children,” she said emphasizing the holistic approach.
TIME APPROPRIATE
Nyashanu admitted that time could be a limitation to some people, hence the need to run appropriately timed programmes.
“We also have a short training programme that we offer to those who work with children affected by autism. This is open even to parents and caregivers as it seeks to equip them as they look after their affected loved children.
According to the Centre for Diseases Control, (CDC) autism is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. Those affected by autism may behave, communicate, interact and learn in ways that are different from most other people. Autism results in problems with social communication and interaction and restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests. Autism may co-occur with other conditions like anxiety, depression, ADD, and ADHD.
“I’m humbled by God’s faithfulness and grace throughout our journey. From a place of uncertainty to a place of purpose and understanding, we’ve come a long way. I hope our story inspires and encourages others to embrace their unique journeys and find support in community,” concluded Nyashanu.
Every child has a silver lining. Let us help each child find that to ride on.

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