Blind Alefa Sees Light at End of Tunnel

By George Mwika Kayange

Published in The Malawi News

Kasungu, October 2, 2008: Her name is Alefa, a vernacular for the Greek “Alpha” meaning “first”, as she is the first-born in a family of four children. Hailing from Nambamba Village, Traditional Authority Chakhadza, in Kasungu, she first saw the God’s gift of light when she was born 17 years ago at Madisi. Being the first born, the Tiopenji family were all smiles to receive for the first time this bubbling little precious endowment.

Sadly, little did Alefa Tiopenji know that in her fifth year of her tender age, she would be struck with a disease that would leave her blind the rest of her life. A misfortune that would result in not seeing light ever again. A tragedy, as some might call it, which would condemn her to a difficult, frustrating, and dependent life. Perhaps the last thing on a long list of misgivings most of us would ever wish to happen to our children.

Alefa - I will make it big

But meet Alefa today, 12 years after the ordeal. The story is different from what the majority would normally expect. She is not a sad child. She actually sees light at the end of the tunnel. She says – by inference – that she aspires to become the Secretary to the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC).

“When I finish school, I will become the secretary of all secretaries in the whole Malawi,” she declares. “And I know with faith in God, coupled with hard work in school, I will make it at all costs,” she adds rather confidently.

Of course, if it were not for the ill-fated ordeal, she should have been in Form 3 by now. But she is currently one of the brightest Standard 7 pupils at Chilanga School for the Blind, located some 20 kilometres away from the Kasungu District Administration Centre. This is one of the only two special schools in Malawi – besides the Lurwe School for the Blind in Nsanje – which caters for children with visual impairment. The rest are simply resources centres for the blind spread out in 13 districts.

And it is here, at Chilanga School, where Alefa has learnt to believe in the adage, “where there is a will there is a way.”

“She is so hard-working and intelligent young girl. She scooped position two in a class of 19 in last semester’s exams,” says her teacher, Abel Simbani.

In spite of whatever day-to-day challenges she may face as a typical blind child, she is overwhelmingly optimistic about her own future and capabilities to achieve big in life, thanks to the caring, protective, and supportive social environment in which she is growing.

She has a Christian mother who takes her to church every Sunday at Chilanga CCAP Church where she interacts well with different people who often inspires her to have a positive perception of life.

“Whatever happened to me is the will of God. His power and greatness is to be manifested in me,” she preaches.

Government needs to adequately resource schools for blind children like this one

Her friends Monica and Hawa, both of whom have low vision, like playing ball with her at school. It is a specially designed ball with a ringing bell inside.

Her younger sister Ireen sacrifices all her time to be with her and to support her morally when she returns home during holidays.

Her well-trained school teachers relentlessly motivate her to succeed, despite complaining about inadequate teaching and learning materials, such as Braille.

And in most of her meetings she conducts the Group Village Head, Chief Chilowa, continues to encourage her subjects, particularly parents, to provide necessary support, without any form of discrimination, to all children with disabilities in her area.

“But I would have loved if Government did its part too in providing equipment for these children, such as wheel chairs, visual aides, and other things. Just putting up the [Chilanga] school in my area alone is not enough,” laments the chief.

But Alefa is one of the few blind children in the country who are lucky to be in school, and who are living in a protective and caring environment, particularly in a society that is becoming more non-discriminatory against people with disabilities than ever before.

Nationwide statistics show that there are about 70,000 children with special needs in all primary schools, of whom 21 percent are with visual impairment, according to Deputy Special Needs Education Director in the Ministry of Education, David Njaidi. He says within three years, this number has drastically increased from 43,500 recorded only in 2005, which shows that there may be thousands more out there who are still coming out into the open.

“These days we are seeing a growing number of children with disabilities, including those with visual impairment. But the truth is that it’s not that the number for children born with disabilities that is increasing. Rather, it is actually the number of such children coming out into the open that is increasing,” explains Andrew Machisa, Chairperson for the Association of Physical Disabilities (APDM) in Kasungu.

Machisa, who is also Coordinator for Tiyanjane Organization of the Disabled, attributes the status quo to the increased advocacy initiatives APDM and other partners are implementing in the district which have resulted in a significant positive change in people’s attitudes against children with disabilities, even though he admits the journey is not over yet.

“In the past, most children born with any kind of disability were being slain silently. It has been our cultural tradition here; people have believed for a very long time that such children were a bad omen to society,” he says, adding those who were exceptionally lucky to survive were being discriminated against.

Although Machisa and other advocates in the district believe that many parents are now beginning to treat disabled and non-disabled children equally by providing them with equal opportunities as a result of their campaigns, they say they have been frustrated by resources to do even more. They also claim that even though Government has put in place a whole ministry to specifically deal with disability issues, they feel it is not yet a priority within the government structures.

“There has never been any communication with the Ministry of Disabilities with us. In the first place, there is no evidence that such an office exists at all here. Instead, we only have a working relationship with the Social Welfare Department [under the Ministry of Women and Child Development] who also often complain of resources,” says Machisa.

On the other hand, District Social Welfare Assistant, Evans Kalambule, admits that the creation of the Disability Ministry a few years ago has brought more confusion at district and community levels, as there is no clear strategy and collaboration within Government’s administrative structure on how best to deal with matters of disability.

“As a result, we only deal with institutions like APDM, Malawi Union for the Blind (MUB), Malawi Council for the Handicapped (MOCOHA), and Parents of the Disabled Children Association of Malawi (PDOCAM)… but not the [Disability] ministry,” he says.

He says his office receive a monthly average of only K100, 000.00 in ORT (Other Recurrent Transactions) from Government coffers with which to implement all social welfare related programmes, including meeting operational costs like fuel, communication, among other things. The same meagre allocation has to cater for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children (OVCs) like street children and abused children, a development that further compounds the challenges that are already there in the absence of a clear strategy at the Disability Ministry to handle issues related to disabled children at the community level.

In fact, complaints about inadequate resources remain familiar in both Government and non-governmental institutions in the district.

“At Chilanga School for the Blind, Government provides less than K50, 000.00 a month, sometimes even K30, 000.00, to run the school, which is ridiculously little. What can you do with that amount really?” questions Alefa’s teacher, Simbani.

Machisa - we are frustrated by resources

He says the school has relied on donations from organisations and individual well-wishers within and outside the district. Among them, include Christobel Mission Foundation in Germany who have now phased out funding; Lilongwe Lions Club who built pit latrines and donated a number of items; and a Mrs. Chibwana who donated food items and cash.

As one of the income generating activities, they have acquired a maize mill although the income realised from it is not enough, as the school still lacks vital learning and teaching materials. The school administration is, therefore, considering other stable business entrepreneurships, such as rearing goats. The idea came about after they already procured five pigs recently under the Malawi Education Support Activities (MESA) project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Apparently, most of the donations the school has received so far, which have enabled blind children like Alefa continue to look to the future with sustained hope, have also come as a result of the advocacy campaigns by various civil society organisations like APDM and others.

But the chief, the teachers, the advocates, community members… all of them agree that Government needs to step up its financial and material support that will guarantee that all special needs teaching and learning materials are adequate in school, if it is to fulfil its Constitutional obligation of ensuring that Alefa’s vision for the brighter future is neither compromised nor dashed altogether.

END/… WORD COUNT/1541

All photos: By George Mwika Kayange ©