Visually impaired Elaju beat the odds to join university

Daniel Elaju was born in Serere and raised in Soroti by a single mother. The 19-year-old student rose above challenges that come along with being partially blind and deaf  to become the best performing PWD student in Uganda and topping the charts in Iganga District in 2021.

Elaju says his mother is even more ecstatic to see her son make the most of his situation and go after his dreams and turn them into a reality.

There were ululations as he walked across the stage at St Juliana Secondary School Gayaza, to accept a fully-sponsored Equity Leaders Programme confirmation letter, after attending a week-long induction.

“It was one of the proudest moments of my life. I was so elated in that moment,” Elaju said. “It was like everything was going in slow motion and I just could not believe it was happening to me.”

 Elaju says he started losing his sight and hearing in his childhood after medication he had taken for an ailment went wrong.

His mother struggled to raise him as a single parent and tried everything she could to save her child. Sadly, nothing changed.

Elaju reveals that from about five years, he struggled with hearing and could not move without a helper.  As he got older, he had to learn to live without his eyesight for the rest of his life.  

Elaju attended St Francis Secondary School For The Blind, Soroti for his O-Level and later joined Iganga Secondary School, a girls’ only school, where he completed his A-Level studies. He says when he arrived at Iganga SS, he was afforded special treatment as a visually impaired student.

When schools temporarily re-opened in 2020 to allow children in candidate classes to sit for their exams, in-person learning was so limited.

Distance learning

As schools attempted to catch up with the lost time, disadvantaged students such as Elaju were walking a tight rope. A versatile person, who is part of the church choir, Elaju helped his uncle at building sites during the lockdown to make ends meet. 

“I could help him with some work, especially electrical wiring to get some money to purchase my personal effects,” Elaju says.

While schools provided students with online resources to help them cope with this stressful time, Elaju struggled because of his visual impairment.

“This was very stressful and overwhelming,” Elaju says of the challenges of having to study online. We must now appreciate how technology allows us to connect but for people with disabilities, it was a challenging time,” Elaju explains. A Unesco report on the impact of Covid-19 as regards people with disabilities found that the pandemic exposed shortcomings, fragilities, risks, and inequalities.

“Even prior to the pandemic, millions of learners with disabilities were reported to be receiving inferior-quality education, often separated from their peers,” the policy brief coordinated by the Unesco Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE), reports. 

The report indicates that children with disabilities face barriers such as stigma and discrimination and are still among the most left behind in education systems worldwide.

“Online studies were really hard for me, especially the videos,” he says.

Studying with friends, he managed through the sessions until schools were re-opened for classes.

With the limited sight, he gave his all and everything came full circle when Elaju was able to tick off another box by obtaining 20 points from History, Literature and Christian Religious Education.

The results ranked him as the best performing student in Iganga District and the best PWD student, with the second having 17 points.

“Oh, it was a dreamlike moment when I received those results and I could not stop smiling,” Elaju says.

Elaju’s goal was to become a medical doctor but will study education with big and bold dreams.

“This was a forced condition I had to embrace. My disability excluded me from the sciences but now I aspire to become a teacher. I now have a chance to inspire and show others that amid all the disabilities and challenges God you still gives you opportunities to make your life better,” Elaju, who joins Makerere University this year, says. He plans to finish his Bachelor’s degree and will further his education and hopefully become a doctor.

According to Daniel Odoch, the head of department of special needs at Gulu High School, a blind inclusive school, teaching is the only profession where the blind and visually impaired can be easily absorbed.

The life changing call

During the vocation as school time came around once again and the complications of tuition raising doubts, Elaju received a phone call from Equity Bank Soroti Branch, for an opportunity to join the prestigious Equity Leaders Programme (ELP).  The programme was introduced in Uganda this year but it has benefitted more than 6,700 students in Kenya since it was started in 1998.

ELP is a rigorous leadership development programme  for top-performing students with the aim of creating a community of transformative leaders who can drive sustainable economic growth and social progress in Africa.

The scholars are exposed to a high-performing environment and are taught values of hard work, work ethics, customer service, communication skills, integrity and professionalism. The scholars benefit from internships at Equity Bank prior to joining local or global universities. 

“I know Elaju’s future is bright and we could not be more proud of what he’s already accomplished and where his journey will take him next,” Samuel Kirubi, the managing director Equity Bank Uganda, said.

123 learners were chosen across the country from the 43 districts where Equity Bank has a footprint. The inclusive bursary scheme aimed at tapping the best performers at A-Level, to pursue their dreams.

The first cohort of their leadership programme in Uganda is aimed at skilling and mentoring the best performing students.  According to Kirubi, besides mentoring the students, they also offer paid-for internships during their holiday.

More hurdles

Being a blind student at the university is not easy as a lot of infrastructure at the campus is not adapted to the needs of the visually impaired. Many roads on the campus are dangerous for such students and there are not enough specialised study rooms for students with visual impairment.

They often face difficulties to carry out common tasks such as reading texts independently. Being difficult to adapt to this ever changing society, these individuals may feel isolated in their own world with an inferiority complex.

Universally, for blind and visually impaired students, this means the availability of auditory software, large-font presentations and/or Braille materials. Such students are also allowed special time to complete coursework, give presentations and take exams using alternative formats.

Elaju also dreads the fact that many students and teachers do not know how to deal with his disability. 

“I was born with full sight and the ability to do anything. Nothing will stop me from chasing my dreams, like every child. I will always be grateful for the support from my family and those who continue to make it possible for me to achieve my goals such as Equity Bank.

Filling the gap

The Equity Leaders Programme  is filling a funding gap for students, most of whom are bright but come from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

Shimon Atuyambe, who completed high school from Solberg College, Kabale and obtained 18 points, is the first member of her family to get beyond A-Level. Born in a family of eight, Atuyambe says obtaining quality education has been a challenge. She has had to study without power and at times juggling study time with cultivating at the farm.

“So this programme will go a long way in supporting my education,” Atuyambe.

Another ELP scholar, Philomena Acom, who is the first born of five, was the best performer at Tororo Girls with 18 points. She says that studying from Tororo Girls was given to her as a punishment from her father after obtaining 31 aggregates in Senior Four. But to obtain the opportunity, she thought it was a sham bursary scheme and was only giving it a try when she visited the branch bank in Tororo to pick her acceptance letter.

Marvin Arnold Kizimula, the best students from Mukono, a beneficiary of the programme, hawked second-hand clothes during vacation to be able to raise tuition.

Yet when he obtained 20 points from Our Lady of Africa Secondary School in Physics, Chemistry and Biology, he now dreams big after benefitting from the scheme.

Pursue your dreams

But gender minister Betty Amongi, who attended the launch of the programme as chief guest cautioned students that being a top student does not guarantee success in life. Using her example, she said that after graduating from university in 1999, she had to choose between pursuing a Masters’  degree at Ohio University and following her political career.

“You are going to be presented with different decisions but most importantly, pursue what you see as the bigger goal. The choices you make in life matter a lot but you should be able to pursue your ambitions,” says the politician, who was elected Member of Parliament aged 24.

Among says that Uganda’s young population, with 77 per cent under the age of 30, requires vibrant learners, who can shape the future.

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

In Uganda, education for Persons with Disabilities was started in 1952 by the colonial government. The special needs education services were for a few children with visual, hearing, learning and mobility challenges who were not gaining from the existing educational provision for regular children. However, Persons with Disabilities are still generally marginalized by beliefs and attitudes in society, and so developments in this ‘Special Education’ have been moving slowly since then.