Table 3. Proportion of Persons with Disability Able to Perform HouseholdRout<strong>in</strong>es by Ma<strong>in</strong> Types of Disability(Data presented below excludes respondents under the age of 8 and men above age 14)Household TasksType of DisabilityYes(%)Yes withDifficulty(%)No(%)Sweep<strong>in</strong>g AroundCook<strong>in</strong>g Mealsfor EveryoneWash<strong>in</strong>g DishesLook<strong>in</strong>g afterYoung ChildrenLook<strong>in</strong>g afterElder MembersDo<strong>in</strong>g the LaundryPhysical Disability 17.8 28.3 53.9Sensorial Disability 46.3 4.5 49.3Mental Disability 52.2 4.3 43.5Epilepsy/Seizures 76.0 9.3 14.7Associated Disabilities 14.1 12.5 73.4All Together 43.2 13.4 43.4Physical Disability 13.8 19.1 67.1Sensorial Disability 34.3 4.5 61.2Mental Disability 28.3 8.7 63.0Epilepsy/Seizures 66.7 5.3 28.0Associated Disabilities 10.9 9.4 79.7All Together 34.2 9.7 56.0Physical Disability 20.4 23.0 56.6Sensorial Disability 40.3 7.5 52.2Mental Disability 43.5 15.2 41.3Epilepsy/Seizures 76.0 6.7 17.3Associated Disabilities 17.2 10.9 71.9All Together 42.1 12.6 45.2Physical Disability 30.9 23.0 46.1Sensorial Disability 45.5 6.0 48.5Mental Disability 34.8 10.9 54.3Epilepsy/Seizures 76.7 5.3 18.0Associated Disabilities 21.9 4.7 73.4All Together 46.3 10.8 42.9Physical Disability 24.3 16.4 59.2Sensorial Disability 34.6 6.0 59.4Mental Disability 30.4 8.7 60.9Epilepsy/Seizures 72.0 3.3 24.7Associated Disabilities 17.2 6.3 76.6All Together 39.6 8.4 51.9Physical Disability 22.1 15.7 62.3Sensorial Disability 31.3 8.2 60.4Mental Disability 39.1 4.3 56.5Epilepsy/Seizures 66.4 7.4 26.2Associated Disabilities 10.9 9.4 79.7All Together 33.2 10.8 56.018 Understand<strong>in</strong>g the Challenge Ahead
Over 75% persons with associated disabilities have difficulty <strong>in</strong> all of the items mentioned (85.9%have difficulty sweep<strong>in</strong>g the house, 89.1% have difficulty cook<strong>in</strong>g a meal, 82.8% have difficulty wash<strong>in</strong>gthe dishes, 78.1% have difficulty look<strong>in</strong>g after young children, 82.9% have difficulty look<strong>in</strong>g after eldermembers, 89.1% have difficulty do<strong>in</strong>g the laundry).As expected, persons with physical disability have considerable difficulty <strong>in</strong> carry<strong>in</strong>g out tasks that arephysically demand<strong>in</strong>g, such as sweep<strong>in</strong>g (82.2%), prepar<strong>in</strong>g meals (86.2%), wash<strong>in</strong>g dishes (79.6%),look<strong>in</strong>g after children (69.1%), look<strong>in</strong>g after elder members (78.1%) and do<strong>in</strong>g the laundry (77.9%).A high proportion of persons with sensorial disability report not be<strong>in</strong>g able to carry out these tasks easily:53.8% have difficulties <strong>in</strong> sweep<strong>in</strong>g, 65.7% <strong>in</strong> cook<strong>in</strong>g meals, 59.7% <strong>in</strong> wash<strong>in</strong>g dishes and 68.6% <strong>in</strong> do<strong>in</strong>gthe laundry. These figures could also signify that these persons are not expected to do these tasks, as there isa problem of communication. For look<strong>in</strong>g after children and elders 54.5% and 65.4% respectively of personswith sensorial impairments have difficulties. These results are more <strong>in</strong> l<strong>in</strong>e with expectations as the tasks doentail <strong>in</strong>teraction with others.Persons with mental disability also show a high proportion who have difficulties carry<strong>in</strong>g out housework.For some tasks the proportion of persons hav<strong>in</strong>g great difficulty is less than <strong>in</strong> previous categories: 47.4%claim to have problems <strong>in</strong> sweep<strong>in</strong>g and 60.8% f<strong>in</strong>d it challeng<strong>in</strong>g to do the laundry. However, 66.5%have difficulty wash<strong>in</strong>g dishes, 65.2% have difficulty <strong>in</strong> look<strong>in</strong>g after children and 60.8% have the sameregard<strong>in</strong>g elders.Lastly, it is noticeable that the responses to this question are less nuanced between “yes, with difficulty” andare more often a categorical “no”, with the exception of persons with physical disability. In the latter category,the “yes with difficulty” is far more frequent an answer. This suggests a strong belief that the person hasregard<strong>in</strong>g the ability to do certa<strong>in</strong> th<strong>in</strong>gs.Chores Outside the House/<strong>in</strong> the FieldThis third set of tasks is related to the ability to move outside the household and the compound. Few nondisabledpersons report <strong>in</strong>ability to perform these tasks. In these cases, the explanation lies <strong>in</strong> the fact thatthe women are not allowed to perform farm<strong>in</strong>g activities, especially <strong>in</strong> Pashto areas 18 .Persons withdisabilityreported hav<strong>in</strong>gthe mostdifficulty withperform<strong>in</strong>gmanual labour,(work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> thefield) or rid<strong>in</strong>ga bicycle or ananimalPersons with disability reported hav<strong>in</strong>g the most difficulty with perform<strong>in</strong>g manual labour, (work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> thefield) or rid<strong>in</strong>g a bicycle or an animal. There is a clear dist<strong>in</strong>ction between the ability to perform these twotasks and be<strong>in</strong>g able to perform the other ones mentioned <strong>in</strong> Table 4. More than 60% of the respondentshav<strong>in</strong>g disability reported not be<strong>in</strong>g able at all to work <strong>in</strong> the field or ride a bicycle or an animal, whereasonly 26.7% are not able to climb stairs, 31.1% cannot go the bazaar and 48.0% are unable to carry heavyth<strong>in</strong>gs. If the persons with disability hav<strong>in</strong>g difficulty to work <strong>in</strong> the field or ride a bicycle are consideredtogether, then only one fourth are able to accomplish these tasks outside the house.People with physical disability and associated disabilities are the most challenged when it comes to tasksthat require high mobility and physical strength. The proportion of those experienc<strong>in</strong>g difficulty is aga<strong>in</strong> veryhigh:• At the lower proportion, this means that 76.4% persons with physical disability and 61.5% with associateddisabilities respectively have difficulty <strong>in</strong> some way with do<strong>in</strong>g the shopp<strong>in</strong>g and climb<strong>in</strong>g stairs.• At the higher proportion, this implies that 93.2% of those with physical disability and 90.0% withassociated disabilities have difficulty work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the field.18See ALDEN W. L. (2004), “Look<strong>in</strong>g for Peace <strong>in</strong> the Pastures: Rural Land Relations <strong>in</strong> <strong>Afghanistan</strong>”, <strong>Afghanistan</strong> Research andEvaluation Unit Report, AREU, December 2004, 125 pp.The Health Picture19
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