To me, disability is a gift, not a curse — One-Hand DJ

Kelvin Kimathi, alias DJ Velko, has a positive take on disability after losing the ability to use his left hand.

“Don’t look at disability as a curse, look at it as gift because the point where you accept how you are is the beginning,” he says.

“Start looking at what you are good at. If you can draw, put it out there; some people do it even with their legs. Show people what you can do and you’ll be surprised at how people will support you.”

Kimathi was born with cerebral palsy. This is a condition that affects the motor part of the brain, making movement and posture tough or unattainable, according to the Cerebral Palsy Society of Kenya (CPSK).

Growing up, Kimathi knew he was different, but he did not know that he had cerebral palsy.

All along, he had told his friends and people around him that he was born that way, but later on found it was because he had cerebral palsy.

“I grew up knowing I was different because I could see how people looked and my hand was different, but later I got to know this condition is called cerebral palsy,” he says.

“I can’t remember the year, but it was around when I was about to finish university. I had accompanied my dad to Kijabe hospital, and I saw he had a whole write-up about my condition.

“I read about it and I realised the thing I have been telling people I’m built and was born with is actually cerebral palsy.” 

Kimathi says his childhood was normal despite having a disability, and he did not see himself as someone with disability.

His parents knew he had the condition when they realised that he could not use his left hand properly as a toddler and sought medical intervention.

This is when doctors told them that it was the condition.

He underwent corrective procedures as a child. One time, the doctors had to choose between having his hand completely paralysed or his leg, and they chose the hand, for mobility purposes.

His parents have always been supportive in terms of the schools they took him to, and this helped him have a normal childhood, and he did not feel any different.

“My parents took me to a private school, communicated to the head teacher, and the head teacher’s responsibility was to communicate to the rest of the teachers what my condition was,” Kimathi says.

“And for me, my interaction was basically normal. I didn’t see myself as a person with disability although it was there. I didn’t see myself as different from the rest of the pupils.”

CAUSE, INSPIRATION

Cerebral palsy is caused by an injury to the brain before, during or after birth, and is a lifelong condition.

CPSK says there is currently no cure for it, but there are various treatment options for people who suffer from the condition to help them improve functioning and reduce complications.

“These include therapy, medications, surgery, education and support,” the society says on its website, adding that the condition is also unique to each individual.

The condition is divided into four classifications. It can be mild, where a child can move without assistance and daily activities are not limited, or moderate, where a child needs assistive or adaptive technology to go about daily activities.

It can also be severe, where a child will need a wheelchair and experiences difficulty accomplishing his activities, or arise later, where a child gets it past brain development age as a result of traumatic brain injury or encephalopathy (damage or disease that affects the brain).

CPSK says most signs and symptoms are normally not readily visible at birth, except for severe cases. They only appear within the first three to five years of life as the child and brain develop.

Despite being a mass communications degree holder from Daystar University with a specialty in advertising, Kimathi has made a career out of deejaying and is now in his seventh year.

He was inspired to become a disk jockey out of curiosity after listening to a music radio show.

“I used to listen DJ Hassan playing on radio and wonder how he managed to play two songs concurrently,” Kimathi said.

“When I got to know what he did using a mixer and other machines it still looked too technical but I wanted to learn.”

He then enrolled in a deejaying school, which his sister offered to pay for.

At first, it was very difficult mixing on the turntables with one hand, but with time, he perfected the craft.

It took a lot of learning by watching what other DJs were doing and YouTube lessons to hack it.

“When I was starting it was a bit hard because normally when you are mixing, you use two turntables and with one hand, I didn’t know how to do transitions smoothly,” Kimathi said.

“With time and courtesy of YouTube and watching people doing it, I got to learn of double flipping (copy the song that is playing to the other side of the turntable).”

This is also where he gets his other nickname, ‘One-Hand DJ’.

CAREER SO FAR

Despite a friend of his helping him settle on the name DJ Velko, he still wanted a name that represented who he is and what he does, and so settled on One-Hand DJ.

“For Velko, it’s just Kelvin played around with. I was given the name by one of my good friends. At first it was just a nickname and when I was looking for a DJ name and looking for something that people know,” he says.

“I went with Velko and the One-Hand DJ thanks to another friend from Daystar; he is the one who provoked my thinking to get a name that represents what I do, and I mix with one hand and so it represents what I do.”

The best part about his job is when he interacts with people and they acknowledge how good his work is.

“Knowing that I am creating an experience for people and also the money is good,” he says with a laugh.

The job has also opened doors he never imagined, the biggest being him playing for former President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi in an event he hosted.

He credits all this to his confidence and the way he packages himself and the work he does.

If he was not a DJ, he believes he would have been working in an agency somewhere as a creative designer.

He is also a social enabler. “This basically means I create strategies and do digital works in terms of video editing, and also social media management and taking care of the digital side of things for clients.”

The DJ also runs a YouTube channel, where he shares some of his mixes each and every Friday.

He wants to be remembered as someone who followed his dream despite his condition and lived it to the fullest.

Kimathi believes disability is a gift, and people living with or around those with a disability should give them all the support they can accord.

He also says that PWDs must not give up and should not allow people to put them down.

“Try support them don’t tell them you can’t do this or that. If he or she wants to try, just support them until they see themselves that I have tried and I cannot,” he says.

“Don’t give up. Start where you are and do you, be you, don’t be put down by people. You are built differently.”

He said the government has the capacity and institutions to help PWDs explore their potential to the fullest.

More sensitisation is needed, however, because most people do not know where they can access opportunities from.

“The government usually has a kitty for people living with disability, and even when you go for tenders, they give you priority. There’s even the disability card. I have it but a lot of people don’t know it is there,” he says.

“I have seen institutions and organisations stepping up on this aspect lately, even to the general public, because they live and interact with people with disability.”

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

According to the 2019 census, 2.2 per cent (0.9 million people) of Kenyans live with some form of disability. The United Nations places the number of PWDs at 1.3 billion, worldwide.

The National Council for Persons with Disabilities is mandated to support and sensitise employers on disability issues, but they have often been accused of failing to do their mandate.

NCPWD Kericho disability services officer Hopkins Olise says the biggest challenge the council faces is funding.

He says they entirely depend on the exchequer for funds and in some instances, donors come onboard, but it still is not enough.

“What we are being offered and the budget we have is not enough to support all our programmes. Sometimes, there is delayed disbursement of funds, and this can get frustrating,” Olise adds.

The other challenge is enforcing the 5 per cent employment of persons with disability by organisations.

“Most organisations are not complying, and we are not an authority, so we can only advise.”

NCPWD was mandated by an Act of Parliament in 2003 to protect and fight for the rights of people with disability. This includes registering them so they can be identified as PWDs and benefit from its programmes.

These include scholarships, economic empowerment programmes like group grants, group of trading and LPO financing, where they offer them loans.

“We recently launched a programme on autism and other related development disabilities, including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, Spina bifida and epilepsy. Where we look to offer therapy and diagnostic tests,” Olise says.

The council recently held a mapping exercise for individuals who fall under these categories so they can get their services for free, because the disabilities are very expensive to cope with.

NCPWD also has an Inua Jamii cash transfer programme, where they give Sh2,000 stipend to support people with severe disabilities.

“We also offer legal services, tax exemption facilitation, disability mainstreaming, advocacy and awareness creation and albinism support, where we procure sunscreens and lip balm, among other programmes.” 

This story has been produced by the Star in partnership with WAN IFRA Women in News Social Impact Reporting Initiative