The year 2008 was a dark year for me, for it was when I lost my eyesight.
Before then, I‘d had challenges having suffered from poor vision right from childhood. I, however, could not receive proper medical care since my parents were poor and not fully informed about my condition.
Schooling was especially challenging because I could barely see what was written on the chalkboard and I was also colour-blind.
These challenges followed me through to high school and later in college. I tried to seek interventions to halt my declining vision but was told by several doctors that I would eventually lose my sight.
After completing my three-year diploma course at Starehe Technical Training Institute, I was employed at Habib Bank AG Zurich, in Nairobi as an ICT supervisor where I worked for four years before I resigned and started my own business.
My ICT consultancy firm opened its doors in the year 2000 and at this time, I was beginning to have challenges walking in the streets and often had to seek assistance from people in order to move from one place to another.
I recall several occasions when I was hit by cart pushers who thought that I wasn‘t giving them way. I would also fall into ditches when walking on roadsides.
When I met my wife, Loice Lutukai, in 2003, I had to explain to her my situation and ask if she was willing to live with a blind man. She was okay with it, and we got married.
The morning that the blindness finally hit, I woke up as usual and made my way to the office. I settled behind my computer screen and all of a sudden everything just went black. I could not see.
I informed my wife and other family members and in coming days, many of my relatives began to shun me. Except my wife, my parents and siblings, many did not want to associate with me and I felt abandoned by my own people.
I, however, chose not to be discouraged and started to look for institutions that would help me start to live with my new condition.
It was then that I landed at the Kenya Institute for the Blind where I learned how to use braille and after one year, I had perfected this skill. My time at this institute also helped me accept my new state, restored my hope and revived my ICT technician skills.
Staff at the institute had seen me, on several occasions, operate a computer as well as carry out maintenance of computers at the school. They were therefore aware of my ICT expertise.
As fate would have it, at the beginning of this year, Hindu spiritual leader Acharya Swamishree commissioned the first cyber café for the visually impaired.
The facilities were donated by Shree Swaminarayan Temple and the Sanghani family and while students expressed interest in learning, there was no trainer. The institute employed me to step in and train both the visually impaired persons and the sighted.
At the Purushottam Cyber Café, I help the visually impaired browse the web using specialised software while using the usual computers.
The software we use is quite expensive and therefore out of reach for the average person, hence why they seek assistance from us.
Despite my lack of sight, I can disconnect and re-connect various components of a computer. When I take my students through the course, I also test them and award marks.
People who visit the institute are mesmerized when they find me fixing a computer or teaching computer classes.
It is important for us to know that visually impaired people are also full of potential.
They also have a right to access information. Since its inception, the cyber café has made strides and is now receiving visually impaired persons pursuing their Masters degrees for their research.
Acceptance of one‘s condition is paramount, and I always tell people not to feel sorry for me, because I am a normal person.
I have three children and while my elder son understands that his father is visually impaired, his younger siblings are oblivious of my state and they always come to me seeking help with their homework.
Each day at 7.30am, I leave my Kahawa West home and commute to Nairobi West where I work until 4.30pm. I use my sonar stick to guide me while crossing the city‘s busy roads and often rely on assistance from good Samaritans.
Being visually impaired has made me learn a vital lesson — how to be humble.
