'I refused to give up': Evelyn turns disability into a mission of hope and change
Ms Evelyne Auma narrates her journey living with disability for 30 years .
What you need to know:
- Thirty years with disability, Evelyn turned pain into purpose by uplifting others and celebrating resilience.
- Paralysed at 20, she overcame adversity to empower fellow persons with disabilities through advocacy.
At her home in Mogotio, Rongai, Evelyn Auma slowly pushes herself to get out of the house while supporting herself with plastic chairs to welcome her guests, who have gathered in the compound.
It is around noon and the sun scorches the compound as more guests, the majority of whom are people living with disability, arrive. Evelyn, 50, has invited them for a celebration to mark her 30 years of life with physical disability.
Evelyn Auma struggles to move by the use of plastic chairs at her home in Mogotio, Rongai, where she organised a celebration with other persons living with disability.
The homestead is a hive of activity. Sweet aroma from the kitchen side indicates an imminent feast. As she takes her time to move out of the house, one of my colleagues offers to assist her, but she declines. She, however, explains that she prefers walking by herself because she has a spine problem, which hurts when she is not held carefully. “I am able to balance and ensure I move in a position that does not cause me more pain.”
A few metres after coming down the short ramp from her veranda, she waves to the guests, welcoming them, before sitting in a chair while panting heavily. In the face of all this, one cannot miss her gracious smile and the delight on her face as she interacts with guests.
One can hardly tell that she has any physical disability as she appears comfortable once seated. After exchanging pleasantries, Evelyn introduces us to her guests and explains the purpose of our visit. She wants this memory captured for future references.
But why throw such a big celebration?
Thirty years ago, Evelyn, then a young girl, suffered a life-changing incident in a way she had never imagine. She woke up on Christmas, 1995, looking forward to a merrymaking day. His life would turn upside down in a twinkle of an eye. She had just concluded preparing delicacies in the morning and expected her friend to visit. Before then, she chose to go for a church service. She prepared her clothes and went to bathe. “When I came back to the house, I felt fatigued and sat on the couch where I fell asleep. When I woke up at 1pm, I could not move my legs and got so worried.”
On request, her church friends came and found her on the couch in a towel and a shower cap. What was thought to be a simple problem turned out to be a lifetime challenge, which would see Evelyn move from one hospital to another without success. In the end, everyone appeared to give up on her. “I was also giving up on life. I could not imagine the kind of a burden I had become. I could not do anything for myself, making me bitter with life. I even contemplated suicide.”
Her mother, who was her only beacon of hope, kept encouraging and assuring her that she will be healed. The condition, which doctors said was paralysis due to stroke, tied her at home in Busia for four years before her grandmother brought in a herbalist, whose approach of frequently massaging her appeared to bear fruit when she started responding in the third month. “I started feeling pain in my legs when he massaged me, but he told me that my nerves had started responding.”
While everyone else had lost hope on her, they were shocked when she began walking by the help of clutches after six months. By this time, her teaching career in Nakuru had been suspended, so she decided to resume albeit with resistance from her family. Her church embraced and supported her to continue with the job. She later got an admission to a teaching college. Her family and church helped her enrol. She took the studies seriously and passed with distinction.
All this time, Evelyn had yet to accept her new physical condition, but her healing journey began in 2000 when she was invited to a forum for people living with disability. “The challenges I saw people live with made me believe I was in a better position than so many others. This is when I accepted myself and decided to embrace my situation.”
She dared to get pregnant against society’s warnings and successfully delivered a bouncing baby boy. “They had told me not to dare get pregnant because of my condition, but I thank God I was able to deliver my child safely. He was normal with 3.6kg, is now 21 and in college.”
She returned to the classroom as a teacher. Further, she mentored other persons living with disability, juggling that with motherhood. This has been her life until 2019 when she retired. She has since immersed herself in championing the welfare of people living with disabilities.
“The reason I invited my friends to come and celebrate with me is that I want the world to know that we exist and are capable of doing many great things in life, irrespective of our disabilities. It has not been easy living with a disability for 30 years, but I am glad I have managed.”
She is still optimistic of healing, despite the years as her condition has been improving. She, however, advises other people living with disability to push themselves to the limit so that they do not become a burden to society. “We need to show society that we can be productive, instead of being a burden. We can engage in projects that help sustain our lives, instead of depending fully on well-wishers.”
For her, people, especially women, living with disability can be supported in their projects by anyone, not necessarily the government, to make life easier for them. Her goal is to empower as many disabled persons as possible.