19/08/2026
Stukie Motsa Foundation Joins Dialogue on Inclusive Church Environments for Persons with Disabilities
The Stukie Motsa Foundation today joined several disability organisations in a dialogue on Inclusive Church Environments for Persons with Disabilities. The engagement took place at the Bible Society Headquarters in Mahlanya.
The event was hosted by the Federation of Organisations of Disabled Persons in Eswatini (FODSWA), in collaboration with Bible Society Eswatini, The Deputy Prime Minister's Office Eswatini UNESCO, and other organisations.
Church organisations and pastors were engaged in discussions on the challenges faced by persons with disabilities. The dialogue between pastors and the organisations proved fruitful, with pastors admitting to a lack of knowledge on disability issues.
The aim of the engagement was to raise awareness and foster inclusion within the church. Since the church holds significant influence in our society, the discussion revealed a gap that needs to be closed — many pastors currently lack adequate information on disability. Today's engagement also created space to share the experiences of persons with disabilities inside the church. Most of these experiences were negative, but solutions were put on the table.
As the Albinism Society, we acknowledged the limited progress that does exist: in some churches, pastors and bishops with albinism are playing a hugely positive role. However, discrimination still exists in other churches when it comes to selecting persons with albinism for leadership roles. We also pointed out that some church members remain unaware of the visual difficulties many people with albinism face, and that church premises and reading materials still present accessibility challenges. Discrimination against couples during marriage counselling was also raised, along with the continued perception of albinism as a curse in some churches.
The dialogue extended to Bible Society Eswatini, which was engaged on the font size and wording used in the Bible itself — some terms still carry discriminatory connotations that have since changed in wider society. Bible Society Eswatini committed to reviewing this, particularly in the Siswati Bible.
Pastors in attendance committed to undergoing training and inviting organisations to sensitise their congregants on disability issues. Zion Bible College and Eswatini Theological College stated that they will incorporate disability training into their pastoral programmes. Zion Bible College added that it is already developing sign language training for pastors, to better accommodate Deaf congregants.
