THIS IS A SAD STORY OF KAFUE FAMILY HIT BY BLINDNESS

“THE grief of losing my husband in 2000 was unbearable. Soon after, I lost my sight in the same year. It was even worse later on when my three children similarly lost sight!”

This is the plight 53-year-old widow Esther Njovu has found herself in.

Blindness has left her family with neither recourse nor hope. Ms Njovu is disillusioned.242777414_4292414060876586_7234692126057161526_n

The only thing she can do is to commit her and the family’s predicament in God’s hands.

She said life has never been the same after she lost her husband Timothy Mtonga.

Speaking in an interview recently, Ms Njovu, who lives in Kafue district said she has six children, three of whom are living with blindness.

She recalled that one of her sons, Edward Mtonga, aged 26, suddenly woke up one morning and could not see!

The mother thought he was pretending or playing a sick joke on her.

She grabbed him and gave him a beating to stop him from being naughty.

But then Edward insisted that he was not pretending.

He said he had developed a sight problem.

At the hospital, doctors diagnosed him as having really lost sight and this was devastating to Ms Njovu who described it as a tragedy.

Several years later, her daughter Neria, 22, who was in Grade Seven at the time, started failing to see properly during class.242443124_4292414254209900_3535098510627466886_n

She thought some dirt had gone into her eyes, but the following day, she literary could not
see.

She too was taken for check up at the hospital where she was diagnosed with blindness.

This was exasperating for Ms Njovu, but it was not over.

Another daughter, Irene, who was in Grade Four at the time, also lost her sight.

Ms Njovu finally went to the hospital to find out what was behind her children’s loss of sight.

The doctors asked to have all the children examined at the hospital to determine whether the blindness in the family was genetic.

From the tests, doctors established that the children were affected by some kind of a hereditary condition of blindness and hinted that the other children who had not yet become blind might sooner or later be affected by then same condition.

Ms Njovu’s story is so unusual that it would send shivers down one’s spine considering the state she is in.

But she has remained determined to fight for her six children who have endured rough times.

Ms Njovu’s daily routine can make one be acquainted with what it is like to be a mother who is visually impaired and at the same time taking care of children who are equally blind.

Everyday, Ms Njovu has to struggle her way through life.

She used to be a tailor, but without her sight, she had to stop her occupation which involves the use of a needle and eyes to sew clothes.

“I used to be a tailor, but I cannot do that anymore. I am scared of getting hurt with the sharp needles,” she said.242555737_4292413994209926_395224098743997585_n

When she tries to start-up a small business, unscrupulous people often dupe her with counterfeit money.

Because of being in this condition, her children have dropped out of school, except for Edward who, after being encouraged by his parents, realised that there was hope to better his life.

This assisted him to pursue special education at Zambia Institute of Special Education (ZAMISE) college in Lusaka after he completed secondary school.

His achievement was an inspiration to the family.

It proved that even when one is visually impaired, one can make one’s life worthwhile.

“I ask God that my son should achieve big things and my daughters should not give up on life but back go back to school,” she said.

Ms Njovu said her family has had to survive on a scanty budget that barely provides them with necessities.

It is apparent that the challenge of being blind has gripped Ms Njovu’s family because most of the family members are blind and this makes it difficult for them to find food.

Arising from this, the Roman Catholic Church of Holy Saviour Parish in Kafue has given her a house so that the family does not end up on the streets.

“I am so grateful to the Catholic Church for the house because before, I never had a permanent place and used to move from one place to the other with my physically challenged children before i could not afford rent,” Ms Njovu said.

She said it has not been an easy journey for her and the family.

She said sometimes, life to her seems like a dream, but everyday, she wakes up to face the reality.

Ms Njovu said her children dropped out of school at a tender age after they became blind.

She said what her children have gone through has become “unbearable.”

In picture: Ms Esther Njovu, with her children Neria and Ireen Mtonga, who are blind, and her grandchildren in Kafue.

Pictures By CHRISTINE KUNDA

Credit: Times of Zambia

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