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Sukoluhle Ndlovu, Features Correspondent
It’s mid-morning in Makanyire Village, Shurugwi, Midlands province and Ms Ellen Tazvivinga (27) joins other women on a one kilometre journey to a nearby borehole to fetch water.

With a tip walk that comes with a distinct slouch, she struggles to keep pace with her able-bodied counterparts.

Ms Tazvivinga was left with severe body burns following a fire accident when she was still a minor.

Every time she fails to do a job or she is not up to the task that any normal woman would do, she is reminded of the unfortunate fire incident that demeaned her of her womanhood.

Following the fire accident, she spent a year in hospital and has as a result a permanent disability.

“I was next door in their kitchen hut where they were preparing cobra when a fire broke out. I suffered severe burns and had to stay at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo for a year. I lost my breasts and my left hand is now partially paralysed. The accident left me with a disability and every time I see other women do menial jobs, I try to emulate them but at times I fail because of my limitations. This always revokes memories of that worst day in my life when I survived by a whisker,” said Ms Tazvivinga.

She, however, said she always strives to do what any able-bodied woman does despite the challenges as a result of her disability.

“I don’t have breasts; they were burnt in that fire accident and they never popped out again. Even if I have a kid now, I won’t breastfeed, I always cry when I think about this,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

At the water source, Miss Tazvivinga uses her left hand to pump water into a 20-litre bucket but other women silently help her delicately place the 20-litre bucket full of water on her head for the kilometre  journey back home.

For Miss Tazvivinga, life has not been the same since the fire incident.

She was forced to drop out of school because of stigma and since then, she has been restricted to household chores.

Men shun her too. “You know I’m 27 years old now. Besides the whole part of my upper body being deformed following the accident, I am still a human being; I also dream of having a child one day but no man has ever proposed love to me. This is the dilemma I’m in. I feel condemned,” said Ms Tazvivinga.

She said many village women of her age have since married and have children but she was still waiting for  “Mr Right” to come along.

“I can still have a family. Though with some difficulty, I can do all household chores. I can fetch water, sweep and even cook using one hand. I believe I can have my own family but my worry now is what will happen if I get pregnant. What will happen to my breasts, which are not there? It always boggles my mind when I think of this,” said Ms Tazvivinga.

A Grade Three drop out who could not stand the stigma she faced during her primary school days, Ms Tazvivinga says she now finds solace in doing household chores at her parents’ home.

“It is not easy to live with such a disability. My age- mates used to mock me and that really affected my self-confidence. I had to drop out from Nhema Primary School when I was doing Grade Three as other pupils always isolated me,” said Ms Tazvivinga.

She said her plight had been made worse by the death of her mother five months ago.

Ms Tazvivinga said her mother used to be her pillar of strength, consolling her to take her fate head on every time she felt depressed.

“My mother used to be my pillar of strength and she understood me very well. She is one person I used to share my problems with. Since her passing in April, I feel very lonely. I now stay with my niece and my father who is very old and frail and is no longer able to provide for the family. I am supposed to fend for him but I can’t.”

Ms Tazvivinga said she still experiences severe pain in her body. “I sometimes experience severe body and chest pains and the situation at times gets worse that I have to seek treatment at the hospital,” she said.

Miss Tazvivinga appealed for help from well-wishers who can support her and her frail father.

“I have a brother and a twin sister who is married but they are not gainfully employed to help us out. I therefore, appeal for assistance from well-wishers to help us with food and anything else that can make our lives bearable,” she said.