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Photo: Ochieng during his graduation.

Samuel Ochieng, 37, lost his sight as an infant. However, he has lived his life to the fullest, winning an award while at it

Samuel Ochieng Odawo is the perfect embodiment of the maxim that lack of sight is not lack of vision. He swam against the tide at a time his parents could hardly educate him and his siblings. Now, he is the only child from in home to set foot in a university lecture hall. His mission, to empower persons with disabilities.

He has been vocal in the formulation of disability streaming policies and advocated for the rights of refugees at Daadab. It is what keeps him going; the hope that one day, the blind will lead more useful lives. Things like crossing roads, reading and using technology will be friendlier.

Well, six months after Samuel was born, he developed measles. My late mother told me when I was nine months, my eyes became completely swollen and the doctors said I had lost my sight completely, he narrates. Samuel, the ninenth in a family of 10 says by the time his dad came back from Nakuru, where he worked, it was too late to save his sight.

Challenges

I was bred in Siaya County, Alego and I grew up blind. I didnt know I was blind, I thought that was how life is, until I overheard my mother chatting with her friends about taking me to a special school. However, it did not bother me as much since I was used to my life and didnt know how it is to see, recalls the 37-year-old. He then went on to St Order Primary School for the blind at the age of seven, performed well and later joined Thika School for The Blind. My condition helped me a great deal. My siblings education was cut short whenever they got to class seven, but I had to be kept in school and I excelled, he says.

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Despite the lack of fees, hustle to get fare, upkeep and attending school a month to closing day, he passed. After high school in 2000, he was admitted to Kenyatta University in 2002 to pursue a bachelors degree in Special Education and French. I had to find a way to pay my fee. My parents could not raise it at all and so, I looked for well-wishers and donors and that is how I sailed the four years. Being blind in campus was tough, an emotional Samuel says.

He had to sweet talk people into reading for him so that he could catch up with school work. Never in the four years did I present my fee structure to my parents, their position could not even help raise the amount he says.

Breakthrough

With a huge fee arrears after the four years, he failed to graduate and moved to Nakuru. While there, I taught French at a primary and a secondary school. It was tough because most people who see blind people assume they are out to beg. I outgrew Nakuru and decided to relocate to Mombasa in 2007, he says.

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While at Nakuru, he was robbed of all of his belongings. The fact that the school needed him to teach more subjects only fanned his desire to relocate. I remember arriving in Mombasa and as I waited for my friend to come and pick me, people were giving me money. They thought I was begging and that just went to show how much people think of the blind in Kenya, says the father of one.

In 2014, he was given the Care Humanitarian Award from Care Canada for his works. The most memorable part of his work was when he was teaching at the Daadab Refugee Camp and his learners with visual impairments got their first classroom.

In 2015, he was helping a friend register for a scholarship and he too applied. I submitted my application on the last day. I was accepted and I attended Birmingham University in the United Kingdom to study a Masters in Management of Special Education in Developing Countries, he beams.

Samuel works as a consultant for special needs education and disability issues at his private firm. I am passionate about empowering persons with disability. Theres a lot of discrimination against peoples with disability in Kenya. A lot needs to be done, Samuel says.

Read more:
Overlooking blindness - K24 TV

This entry was posted on April 18, 2017 at 7:44 pm and is filed under Blindness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |