Influence of Socio-Culture on the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities in Rachuonyo South - Homa-Bay County, Kenya

Abstract

The study investigated the influence of socio-culture on the empowerment of persons with disabilities in Rachuonyo South-Homa Bay County. The study objectives examined the influence of the family on the empowerment of PWDs at the household level; evaluated the effectiveness of the central government empowerment strategies and programs of PWDs empowerment in Rachuonyo South. This study was guided by “The Social Model of Disability,” which attributes the factors that result in the oppression and discrimination of PWDs,” to socio-political constructions. The study used a descriptive survey research design based on quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study adopted two sampling procedures; probability sampling method and a non-probability sampling techniques. The target population that was studied consisted of 502 persons. A sample size of 83 people was obtained by employing Yamane 1967 formula to arrive at a representative sample size. The study employed multi-stage sampling, simple random sampling and, purposive sampling designs. Questionnaires and FGDs were employed to obtain data from the field. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, means and frequency counts were used to analyze both quantitative and qualitative data using Microsoft excel computer package. The instruments were examined for validity. A test re-test technique was applied to achieve reliability A Pilot study was done by organizing a testing session of research instrument. The study found that a majority of the people still believed that disability is as a result of a curse, a taboo or witchcraft and that a majority of residents in Rachuonyo South believed in the traditional beliefs and practices having a great effect on the empowerment of PWDs. The study recommends that the government to increase awareness campaigns at the grassroots levels to ensure that the level of stigma is reduced, upscale empowerment funding‟s and activities that promote income generations among PWDs and national government with the national disability council to aggressively print and disseminate the national disability policy.