(Yasiri J. Kasango is a man with capabilities overcoming disabilities. He has thick skin. The life of the 25-year-old with height and sight impairments has been laced with mockery. But through the ridicule, he has found strength. Below, the Uganda Christian University third-year student in the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication program narrates the trials he has faced due to his physical challenges.) 

By Yasiri J. Kasango

Visual impairment is usually attributed to old age. For my case, I was born with the challenge. The trials with my sight cannot be corrected with prescription eye glasses or surgery. Medical professionals in Uganda label it “low vision.”

I stand more than a head shorter than the shortest person. When I asked my mother why I am this short, she told me that I was created like this. As a child, due to my unique height, wherever I passed, people would call me names. Pygmy was the most common. I used to get irritated. While in boarding school in Senior One at Bukoyo Secondary School in the eastern Uganda district of Iganga, I almost quit my education because of such harassment.

At school, we used to pick food from the dining hall and eat from our dormitories. Whenever I went to the dining hall to pick my food, students would follow me, shouting “pygmy.” 

There were days when the bullying was so much that I didn’t eat. I slowly started losing my self-esteem. There were many occasions when I did not turn up for evening prep or eating in the dining hall because I had anxiety about the bullying. I made meals from the snacks I carried from home, which were meant to last me the whole term. 

Despite the bullying, there were days I would wake up with the resolve that my happiness entirely depended on me. I chose not to pay attention to the mockery that I would get from fellow students. With this new attitude, I started getting leadership positions.

From Senior One to Senior Six, I was a student leader. For Senior One to Senior Three, I was a councillor on the country’s umbrella body for secondary school student leaders – the Uganda National Student’s Association (UNSA). From Senior Three to Senior Four, I was the external coordinator for UNSA. In Senior Five and Senior Six, I was a prefect in my school, in charge of lights, furniture and water.

So, how did I discover that I had low vision? In Primary Three, while at Covenant Primary School in Mbale, eastern Uganda, Mrs. Sylvia Mutungi, my former teacher, found out that I had a sight challenge. She told me to always move closer to the black board, to be able to see. 

One day, she informed my father, Juma Mugabi, about my vision obstacle. My mother, Zain Mutesi Kasango, told me that when my father told her about what the teacher had said, she remembered that as a child, I always had challenges with my right eye. “You would cover the eye with one finger, in order to see well,” she told me. 

Sometimes I was forced to squint, in order to see objects at a distance.

My mother said she usually slapped me whenever I put a finger on my eye. While in Primary Six, I went to an eye hospital, St. Benedictine Eye Care Center, in Tororo district, eastern Uganda. That is when I was diagnosed with low vision. 

I was warned never to drive a car because of my challenges. The optician said I should also learn to live with my sight challenges since there were no lenses to correct my condition. 

I was told that since my sight problem originates from the retina, it was difficult to find optical glasses that would solve the problem. However, I was given magnifying lenses for close range reading and a telescope to focus on the black board. 

The telescope gave me short relief while reading things on the black board. However, it was only for use in class. But being a child, my telescope did not last for more than two terms. It fell and got damaged. In my final term, I went back to my usual struggle of moving closer to the black board. When I joined Senior One, I went back to the eye hospital. 

After tests, I was given two lenses. The optician told me they were meant for reading only. Therefore, I had to struggle while walking on the road. Throughout my life, I usually find a person to walk with on busy roads.

One day, I was left home on a Sunday. My siblings and dad had gone to church. I, too, wanted to attend prayers that Sunday. I set off for church, alone. When I reached the point to cross the road, I waited until I could not hear the sound of any car. I crossed the road while running. To my surprise, there was a car coming, and it missed hitting me by a whisker. 

The recent introduction of Computer Studies in A’ level as a subsidiary subject was a good initiative by the Ministry of Education and Sports in Uganda. However, to a student like me with a sight challenge, it was a disadvantage. The subject has two sections – theory and practical.

I struggled to do the practical exams because of my visual impairment and ended up getting a pass. I joined Uganda Christian University in 2017. At the university, I found a similar challenge. In my first year, I was supposed to study basic computing. For the practical coursework of basic computing, my lecturer, Mr. Henry Sseguya, helped and gave me “oral practical” coursework. 

I thank teachers and lecturers who have helped to make studying a little easier for me than it would have otherwise been. 

The nick names that people have always given me due to my challenges have, instead, been my source of strength. Whenever people called me pygmy, I get the inspiration to climb high. I wish all people who are naturally blessed differently – physically and mentally – can be considered just as important in society as those who seemingly blend in. 

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