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allAfrica.com: Uganda: Mumps Left Him Deaf (Page 1 of 1)
At the age of 12 in 1992, Ambrose Murangira, now 28, hoped to join secondary as the best student from his primary school. However, things did not go well during the holiday. He suffered from mumps.
It did not worry anybody at home because people in their village used to suffer from the infection and would heal in a few days without serious effects.
"No major medication was taken, other than smearing one's face with charcoal," says Murangira, through a sign interpreter. Unlike others, the disease left him deaf. One morning, as he was recovering from mumps, his mother went to his room to wake him up.
He could not hear what she was saying; he only saw her lips moving. He inquired if it was raining heavily outside that he could not hear. His mum was surprised and drew the curtains to show him that it was not raining.
Although she is a medical doctor, she did not want to think that her son was deaf. "She looked confused and acted like an insane person as she shook me, moved her mouth very fast and suddenly burst into tears," he adds. After a few minutes, she communicated by writing on paper. That's when she realised that he was deaf.
She wasted no time, and took him from one hospital to the next, but nothing much was done to help him regain his sense of hearing. Dr Sam Zaramba, currently the director of health services at the Ministry of Health, who was a family friend tried to calm her down by recommending the use of hearing devices (hearing aids).
However, it made no difference. Her son was confirmed completely deaf. That started the path of being discriminated against for Murangira. Although he was treated normally at home, away from home, he was called all sorts of names like kasiru, loosely translated as stupid. The once hopeful candidate to-be saw nothing good coming his way in the future. When others resumed school, he stayed home.
His mother could not stand seeing her son, the second born of seven children at home with no hope for the future. Together with his teachers, they helped him complete his primary seven from home. He got notes from his teachers and read them from home.
He was also coached from home. When the final results came out, he had aggregate 12, and was among the best students at Bisheshe Primary School in Ibanda District. Although his parents encouraged and insisted that he takes up a course, it took three years for Murangira to accept their proposal. His greatest fear was the treatment he would receive from outsiders. In 1996, he joined Ruti Rehabilitation Centre, in Mbarara District where he was trained as a shoeshine.
After the training, he began working in Kyenkaga Trading Centre, near his home. However, what he earned was not motivating. "I earned between Shs200 and Shs800 per day and only made up to Shs2,000 during Christmas and Easter holidays," he remembers.
His life turned round when he met Hon Alex Ndeezi, the Member of Parliament representing people with disabilities, and the founder of Uganda National Association of the Deaf (Unad). Hon Ndeezi who was born deaf was then a student at Makerere University.
"I had never known that even deaf people can communicate with others through sign language. I then decided to leave my cobbler job and join school," Murangira says. In February 1997, he joined Rwenkoba Progressive High School without the knowledge of his parents.
Because the school was new, pioneers were studying for free. He used his savings to buy a uniform and books. In class, as students paid attention to the teacher, he paid his to the neighbour's book. "I used to copy notes from my neighbour.
I used to get little if not nothing from the teacher, except for mathematics which was my favourite," he says. When the first term ended, he was 6th in a class of 66 students. When he showed the report to his parents during the holiday, his mother had to first confirm from the headmaster and Murangira's teachers if it was true that he had been in school.
When he joined senior three, he changed schools and joined Kent Foundation School in Mbarara town, where he completed his O'Level. He passed with a first grade and was admitted to Ntare School in Mbarara on merit. At Ntare, the teachers didn't know how to deal with him. He was a new 'case' in school.
"The deputy headmaster had to inquire from the headmaster of Kent Foundation on how they'd handled the deaf student who passed and was admitted on merit!" he says, adding that life at Ntare was easy and students respected him for having made it that far despite being deaf. Their library was also well-stocked, which favoured him because he depended more on reading than on the teacher in class.
He completed his A'level and joined Makerere University in 2003 graduating with bachelor's degree in Social Work and Social Administration. He is now pursuing a master's degree in Social Sector Planning and Management at Makerere University.
What has driven him is the need to fight for the rights of the deaf people whom he says are discriminated left, right and centre. He has worked with Unad to achieve his dreams. In his senior four, he was the chairperson for Unad, Mbarara branch.
When he joined the university, Unad gave him a sign language interpreter, and in his second year, he won the Unad chairmanship. He was also the guild minister for people with disabilities at Makerere University. As the chairman of Unad now, Murangira is using his position to lobby for the rights of the deaf in Uganda.
"We are also citizens and have to be treated so," he states strongly. He wants the Ministry of Education to make sign language compulsory in colleges.
He believes this will give deaf children a chance to choose between mainstream schools or schools for the deaf. In the many places in the world he has travelled to promote the same cause, he says that they are a step ahead as far as respecting rights of the deaf is concerned. Murangira does not support the idea of giving special examinations to deaf students in schools for the deaf.
"They should not be treated as special children if they are to compete favourably with others," he says. "I advise such children not to have selfpity or see themselves as failures," he says, adding that from the day he decided to live like other normal children, he has never let anybody treat him differently and is proud for having taken up that decision.
At the age of 12 in 1992, Ambrose Murangira, now 28, hoped to join secondary as the best student from his primary school. However, things did not go well during the holiday. He suffered from mumps.
It did not worry anybody at home because people in their village used to suffer from the infection and would heal in a few days without serious effects.
"No major medication was taken, other than smearing one's face with charcoal," says Murangira, through a sign interpreter. Unlike others, the disease left him deaf. One morning, as he was recovering from mumps, his mother went to his room to wake him up.
He could not hear what she was saying; he only saw her lips moving. He inquired if it was raining heavily outside that he could not hear. His mum was surprised and drew the curtains to show him that it was not raining.
Although she is a medical doctor, she did not want to think that her son was deaf. "She looked confused and acted like an insane person as she shook me, moved her mouth very fast and suddenly burst into tears," he adds. After a few minutes, she communicated by writing on paper. That's when she realised that he was deaf.
She wasted no time, and took him from one hospital to the next, but nothing much was done to help him regain his sense of hearing. Dr Sam Zaramba, currently the director of health services at the Ministry of Health, who was a family friend tried to calm her down by recommending the use of hearing devices (hearing aids).
However, it made no difference. Her son was confirmed completely deaf. That started the path of being discriminated against for Murangira. Although he was treated normally at home, away from home, he was called all sorts of names like kasiru, loosely translated as stupid. The once hopeful candidate to-be saw nothing good coming his way in the future. When others resumed school, he stayed home.
His mother could not stand seeing her son, the second born of seven children at home with no hope for the future. Together with his teachers, they helped him complete his primary seven from home. He got notes from his teachers and read them from home.
He was also coached from home. When the final results came out, he had aggregate 12, and was among the best students at Bisheshe Primary School in Ibanda District. Although his parents encouraged and insisted that he takes up a course, it took three years for Murangira to accept their proposal. His greatest fear was the treatment he would receive from outsiders. In 1996, he joined Ruti Rehabilitation Centre, in Mbarara District where he was trained as a shoeshine.
After the training, he began working in Kyenkaga Trading Centre, near his home. However, what he earned was not motivating. "I earned between Shs200 and Shs800 per day and only made up to Shs2,000 during Christmas and Easter holidays," he remembers.
His life turned round when he met Hon Alex Ndeezi, the Member of Parliament representing people with disabilities, and the founder of Uganda National Association of the Deaf (Unad). Hon Ndeezi who was born deaf was then a student at Makerere University.
"I had never known that even deaf people can communicate with others through sign language. I then decided to leave my cobbler job and join school," Murangira says. In February 1997, he joined Rwenkoba Progressive High School without the knowledge of his parents.
Because the school was new, pioneers were studying for free. He used his savings to buy a uniform and books. In class, as students paid attention to the teacher, he paid his to the neighbour's book. "I used to copy notes from my neighbour.
I used to get little if not nothing from the teacher, except for mathematics which was my favourite," he says. When the first term ended, he was 6th in a class of 66 students. When he showed the report to his parents during the holiday, his mother had to first confirm from the headmaster and Murangira's teachers if it was true that he had been in school.
When he joined senior three, he changed schools and joined Kent Foundation School in Mbarara town, where he completed his O'Level. He passed with a first grade and was admitted to Ntare School in Mbarara on merit. At Ntare, the teachers didn't know how to deal with him. He was a new 'case' in school.
"The deputy headmaster had to inquire from the headmaster of Kent Foundation on how they'd handled the deaf student who passed and was admitted on merit!" he says, adding that life at Ntare was easy and students respected him for having made it that far despite being deaf. Their library was also well-stocked, which favoured him because he depended more on reading than on the teacher in class.
He completed his A'level and joined Makerere University in 2003 graduating with bachelor's degree in Social Work and Social Administration. He is now pursuing a master's degree in Social Sector Planning and Management at Makerere University.
What has driven him is the need to fight for the rights of the deaf people whom he says are discriminated left, right and centre. He has worked with Unad to achieve his dreams. In his senior four, he was the chairperson for Unad, Mbarara branch.
When he joined the university, Unad gave him a sign language interpreter, and in his second year, he won the Unad chairmanship. He was also the guild minister for people with disabilities at Makerere University. As the chairman of Unad now, Murangira is using his position to lobby for the rights of the deaf in Uganda.
"We are also citizens and have to be treated so," he states strongly. He wants the Ministry of Education to make sign language compulsory in colleges.
He believes this will give deaf children a chance to choose between mainstream schools or schools for the deaf. In the many places in the world he has travelled to promote the same cause, he says that they are a step ahead as far as respecting rights of the deaf is concerned. Murangira does not support the idea of giving special examinations to deaf students in schools for the deaf.
"They should not be treated as special children if they are to compete favourably with others," he says. "I advise such children not to have selfpity or see themselves as failures," he says, adding that from the day he decided to live like other normal children, he has never let anybody treat him differently and is proud for having taken up that decision.