Children with visible physical disabilities (CWPDs) living in rural areas of South Africa are a matter of particular concern. While all children living in rural areas face negative influences such as poverty and the high incidence of HIV/AIDS, this situation is exacerbated for CWPDs who are more vulnerable to these influences (Human Sciences Research Council). The aim of this research was to explore and describe the negative influences facing children with physical disabilities in rural South Africa utilising Bronfenbrenner's ecological model as a theoretical point of departure. A purposeful sampling strategy was used to select forty participants for a critical ethnographic study. Data were gathered through multiple strategies: interviews, observations, photos and drawings and analysed using a thematic approach. The findings indicated that children with physical disabilities experience negative influences in many domains of their everyday life: lack of resources, poverty, cultural beliefs and personal factors are a few of these domains that were identified. The complexity of the lack of resources for this marginalised group of children emerges from the interplay of these domains rather than a single domain.