Screeching tyres a few feet away could easily send a chill down the spine of a pedestrian. The thought of possibly being seriously injured or even losing life is petrifying.
Gilbert Kamande experienced such a scenario before attaining the age of 12. The near mishap was attributed to his dimming eyesight. He assumed that children of his age had a similar vision and that his situation was normal.
“When I was crossing the road one day, I was almost hit by a vehicle,” he says. The brakes of that vehicle jolted him to sense that something was amiss with him.
This realisation was a stark reminder that his eyes were not picking up sufficient illumination that would protect him from danger. “I was seeing slightly,” he says.
He had become visually impaired. This is a case that many physically challenged individuals could attest to — that disability is a club that one could join anytime.
His eyesight kept deteriorating with each passing day. Another confirmation came from his peers in Gikindu village in Maragua, Murang’a county. On one occasion, a cow was grazing nearby. “Does that cow have horns or not?” he was asked by one of his playmates. He couldn’t see and so couldn’t answer.
It was now evident that Kamande had become blind. He was then a pupil at Nginda Primary School, which he had joined in Class 1 in 1976. He was there until Class 6 in 1981.
While at this school, his handwriting was unintelligible due to his very hazy vision, which hampered his ability to copy what his teachers would write on the black wall. At this point, his teachers discerned that his eyesight had vanished.
His parents enrolled him at the Thika Primary School for the Blind in 1982. “This is where I was first exposed to Braille Grade One, where I was taught the alphabet,” he says. “I was very fast to learn it. It took me about three months to know reading and writing Braille.” He passed all the tests that were conducted in Braille. He remained in the school up to 1985.
After his primary school education, he crossed over to Thika High School for the Blind, located in the same neighbourhood. He was there from 1986-89. He was further exposed to learning material in Braille.
EMBOSSED BIBLE
“Learning Braille was quite a task,” he says. “At first, I would strain my eyes to see how the raised dots were arranged.” He couldn’t with his eyes. It was a relief to him when he ultimately succeeded in decoding the pattern of the six dots used. He could now read, albeit with his fingers. Even though it took quite a while, he eventually arrived at a good grasp of contractions.
Kamande's next stop was the then Machakos Trade Training Centre for the Blind. He took a course in carpentry and joinery. This was from 1992-94. "I can make chairs, tables and other wooden items," he confidently says.
Machakos Teachers' Training College was next, beckoning him. He heeded the call from 2010-12. He is now a teacher at Gakoigo Primary School in Murang’a county. He teaches social studies, Kiswahili and Christian Religious Education in Grade 5. His class is composed of 45 learners.
One of the Braille publications that Kamande cherishes most is his Bible, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. It is in English and Grade Two Braille. It covers the 66 books, from Genesis to Revelation.
Braille is bulky. Kamande's embossed Bible is reserved on several shelves in his study room to accommodate the 24 volumes that constitute the entire scripture. If stacked one on top of another, the height of these books would reach about seven feet.
He began receiving segments of these scriptures in 2021. “Two or three volumes would be dispatched to me from the Branch Office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nairobi, at intervals of about three months, until all the volumes had been delivered.”
Though his literal eyes are steeped in darkness, the tips of his fingers are his eyes when reading. “If my fingers were to be injured, I wouldn’t read on my own,” he says.
He scans the pages with the fingers of his two hands over the raised dots. His right hand tracks the progression of the dots from left to right while his left one detects the immediate lower line of text. He either reads silently or aloud accordingly.
“I enjoy reading my Bible very early in the morning, when it’s quiet,” he says. “I don’t need light to do so.”
REGIONAL CONVENTION
He’s arranged the volumes in such a manner that would enable him to take the shortest time possible to retrieve the desired one. After studying it, he knows how to return it to its appropriate slot.
Before receiving his Braille Bible, he would listen to audio recordings, or someone would read to him select portions from the normal Bible.
“I also receive other Bible study literature in Braille,” he says. “These are dropped at our Kingdom Hall in Maragua.” Kamande often takes the lead in spiritual discussions in the Kikuyu language. One of the Braille magazines he receives is known as The Watchtower. A regular one demands some scriptures to be read, for they are marked “Read”.
Kamande’s is a special one. “In my Braille version of the Watchtower, such scriptures are slotted within the paragraphs,” he says. “I don’t have to keep opening my Braille Bible to locate them.”
Many are the challenges that Kamande confronts. But the father of two, aged 17 and 21, knows that these hurdles are not insurmountable. “When I have to go to a place I’m not quite familiar with, I rely on others,” he says. His son Jolys Githuku is a reliable guide.
“My father has never seen me,” Githuku says. “I sometimes forget that he is blind due to how hardworking he is.” The two have forged very close friendships with each other.
The Kamande family has been looking forward with eager anticipation to attending the 2023 ‘Exercise Patience’ Regional Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the first to be held in person since the Covid-19 pandemic struck. The three-day event was held at Havila Resort in Sagana, from August 18-20.
This is one of the more than 30 conventions that have been taking place at various locations in the country in many languages.
Noah Munyao, the spokesperson of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Kenya, says, “Even though patience is a beautiful quality that all Christians desire to display, maintaining it in the face of life’s many challenges can be a daily struggle.” He’s positive that spending three days exploring aspects of this quality is very timely for all who attend.
TEAM TEACHING
Kamande and his family are among the more than 1,100 persons who attended the Kikuyu language convention. Videos are screened every day of such gatherings. A two-part dramatised production, the first on Saturday and the second on Sunday, were projected. “I was explaining to my father the pictorial storyline,” Githuku says.
However, Kamande’s ability to listen is heightened. His wife Elizabeth Wangui says, “He sometimes pays more attention and understands more than we do.”
Sighted delegates at these conventions bring along either their regular hard or soft copy Bible. Not so for Kamande. Commuting with his 24 volumes is impractical. No wonder paying more than the usual attention carries the day for him.
During this convention, Kamande had been assigned a teaching part that he was to deliver on the first day. “Jolys read to me the scriptures that I was to read to the audience. I wrote the scriptures in Braille in my outline and read them from the platform,” he says.
Kamande undertook training at the Kenya Institute of Special Education. He specialised in handling children who are slow learners.
Wangui considers herself a teacher, too, though she’s not as trained as her husband. She accompanies him to the integrated class to assist him while he teaches. “When he mentions a topic, I’m the one who writes it on the wall and other notes dictated by him for the learners,” she says.
Wangui has basic knowledge of Braille Grade 1. “I can write A-Z in Braille,” she says. “I found Grade 2 rather complicated.”
One question she’s frequently faced is, “Why did you accept to be married by a blind person?” She says some women tell her, “If I were the one, I wouldn’t.”
Wangui doesn't allow such views to distract her from the focus she has on her marriage. She resolutely says, “If he loves God and I love him, that’s fine with me.”