Sheila, a mother of two children, lived with her unemployed husband in a one room cottage in Highfield group. Her twelve-year-old daughter was born with cerebral palsy. Sheila owned a flea market stall and was able to feed her family. Her daughter attended the Ruvimbo School for the Disabled every day. She recounted her story: The house I am staying in has been demolished. It happened last week on June 8. Support unit police and soldiers and people from the city council came to demolish the house. They came and told us that it was illegal and started to demolish the house with hammers. I arrived in Highfield in 1993. I was just lodging with my husband. The land lord had papers for the house. They didn’t even inform us that they were coming. We were not given any warnings; we just heard that in Mbare they were coming to demolish the house. When they started demolishing I immediately took my property and threw it outside. We have been sleeping outside for a week at Highfield with our property. We are sleeping outside me and my children including my disabled child and now she is having fits. The government has not provided us with any food, shelter or medicine. They want us to move. We have no village or anywhere to stay in the rural areas. My husband is from Masvingo but I have had problems with my in-laws because they don’t like my disabled child. My disabled child was at a disabled school and there is no school in the rural areas. We also have no money to build anything in the rural areas. My child now has no access to physiotherapy or the hospital because we have no money for transport to take her there. We have received no help whatsoever even from local and other NGOs. I have no lawyers or anyone helping me. I am desperate. I am worried about my children. We haven’t been able to talk to anyone from the government. My flea market was demolished and I don’t have anything to do and I am so worried about how I am going to survive. In Highfield we are six mothers with disabled children who are now homeless. The number will increase because they will still demolish the other houses. I don’t know what I am going to do next. I am so desperate.104 104 Human Rights Watch interview, Harare, June 22, 2005. 25