When he lost his sight, he thought that his life was over and it took him great courage through rehabilitation to accept the situation and move on.
“Losing my sight took away my independence and I was frustrated in the early years because I was used to my freedom,” Nyamuziwa said. “I was too embarrassed to even tell my friends that I had gone blind and I even stopped going to church. At times I would pretend I could see just to avoid being humiliated.”
But at 28, Nyamuziwa is now the founder of “Shine on International Trust” – an organisation giving hope and a second chance to blind people. Established in January, SIT aims to lobby for employment creation for the blind, active participation in sport and awareness raising among the blind about HIV and Aids – as he found that most campaigns do not cater for the blind.
Narrating his experience to The Zimbabwean, the enthusiastic young man said he started having problems with his sight in 2005 but never thought it could degenerate into blindness.
“I got a place to study sport at Varsity College South Africa in 2004 but I had to return home before completing the course as I was experiencing night blindness. During the day I could see but in the evening I was struggling to move around,” he said.
In 2009 he was diagnosed with retinal detachment, a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue.
For someone who grew up in a children’s home and then under a foster mother, his life seemed to be a catalogue of misfortunes.
“I grew up at an orphanage centre in Waterfalls under the care of my foster mother who is now late. I don’t even know my parents or relatives’ so losing sight was a double tragedy,” he said.
Doctors tried everything to restore his sight, but after four months of despair, Nyamuziwa embraced his worst fears and sought for help from a friend who referred him to the Dorothy Duncan Braille Centre in Harare – where he learnt to live with blindness.
“I lost 12 kilograms in a space of four months. I even tried to commit suicide twice but it did not work as God had plans for me. I realised that I needed daily living skills to give me independence. When I joined a rehabilitation class in 2010, my life changed for the better. I learnt computers and was even able to search for a scholarship on the internet. I got place to study at the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in India and graduated with a diploma in Counselling from Connect Zimbabwe. I was happy with my achievement as my life was beginning to get back on track,” he said.
Nyamuziwa recently featured in a local drama series called Simuka Upenye. In 2012, he was chosen to attend the United Nations Youth Africa Conference. He now hopes to empower blind people not only in Zimbabwe but in Africa.
“This organisation is a starting point but with time I will expand and establish offices in 12 African countries. I believe as blind people we have no limitations – we only limit ourselves through our thoughts,” he said.
Post published in: News