Hearing the moving story of Isiuwe Daniel
Isiwoso, a National Youth Service Corps
(NYSC) member currently serving at the State
House would move the stone hearted to pity.
At 14 years, by either fate or design, his
collision with a man leaving the Mosque after
Jumat prayer led to his blindness and it
almost ruined his lofty ambitions.
Thinking that life had lost its true meaning and
at the verge of committing suicide after
wasting excruciating six years at home without
a solution to blindness, succour finally came
his way. According to him, the journey to
surmount odds had started after the six years
when he got the opportunity to embrace Braille
education that saw him through from
secondary school to higher education at the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN)
However, recalling how he embarked on that
journey to carving a niche, he revealed that he
passed through many tough and challenging
situations including the pain and difficulty of
depending on his classmates to record
lectures, recalling that many people even had
to avoid him like plague.
Today, he announces triumphantly, that he has
cast all that behind him especially after
wedding a lady of his dreams on February 1 in
Abuja. His spouse equally graduated from the
same institution. The union, he noted dried the
tears of his mother, who still could not believe
that her first son is blind.
Facing blindness
It is a long story but I would say that the
incidence was more or less a domestic
accident, which occurred when I was still a
teenager of around 14 years. I was playing
with my younger brother, while he was running
and I was pursuing him, I collided with a man
from the Mosque after Friday Jumat. I fell flat
on my face and became completely blind. I
lived in Zaria, Kaduna State with my family
then.
Immediately after the collision I shouted
repeatedly that I can’t see again. My eyes had
turned inside out that even at the hospital, the
ophthalmologists said that they could only do
their best medically to return my eyeballs into
normal position but it will take divine
intervention for me to regain my sight.
I visited the best eye hospitals even in Lagos
and almost travelled to India before we were
discouraged that only God could restore the
sight through miracle. It is not possible to
calculate the amount we have spent on
medication but we spent so much.
Since the incident, I have survived by the grace
of God because when it became obvious that I
have lost my sight after all manners of medical
solutions, I spent almost six years at home
without going to school, or taking up any
vocational activities.
It was on my sixth year idling and wasting
away at home that the opportunity of going
back to school came, but I had to start by
learning how to read and write using Braille in
a special school in Kaduna. It was after
mastering the use of Braille that I returned to
secondary school. When I finished, I wrote
West African School Certificate (WAEC), wrote
JAMB and gained admission to UNN to study
Political Science.
Living without sight
I faced horrible challenges I would not want to
recall again. There were harrowing experiences
especially as we don’t have the facilities in
this country to aid physically challenged
persons like me to study. The study materials
for the blind are very expensive. A Braille
machine sells for at least N160,000, which
made learning more challenging.
So, what I did in the university was to get
friends that would help me do audio recording
instead of using the Braille machine to follow
the lecture since we don’t have the equipment.
I will listen to the audio recordings, analyse
and memorise them and use typewriter on the
day of examination to write so that the lecturer
could read my scripts and mark them.
The frustration came to the head that at a
time, I felt like committing suicide. The thought
of killing myself took over me when I thought I
don’t have any opportunity of continuing my
academics because of the blindness.
I had to stay at home even when everybody
left the house, for six years. My saving grace
was when the opportunity of going back to
school materialised. I had to pick up the pieces
of my life from there.
What sustained me from then till now was the
grace of God. However, I must add that
listening to the words of God actually helped
me. Going to church and hearing the word of
God was the secret source of my strength and
encouragement. It really made me strong to
keep pursuing success.
Unwilling helpers
Some of my course mates willingly assisted me
in so many ways, but many others would
refuse and say they have their own business to
handle. The willing ones helped me record
lectures even when handling their own
assignment wasn’t easy. Sometimes I
appreciated them with one or two gifts to
motivate them to do more for me.
It was not easy overcoming the rejections I
suffered in the hands of some people. I recall a
particular incident when I wanted to get a
fiancée. I spoke to one lady who insulted me
thoroughly, asking me how I could claim I love
her when I don’t know how she looks.
In fact, there were some of them that won’t
even want to sit down close to me or walk
with me on the road. But I am grateful to God
for seeing me through.
Getting a wife
Convincing my wife to marry me was not what
I could attribute to my power or skills. It
happened because she really loves me. I want
to believe that God is behind the whole thing.
Incidentally, we graduated from the same
university. It was not difficult convincing her
because she already has the love for me
without which, it would have been a bit
difficult.
My proposal was like a fulfilled dream. I cannot
say if she was surprised the day I proposed to
her because when I told her about my plan for
her, she only requested that I give her time to
think and pray about it.
People discouraged me from marrying him —
Wife
Former Miss Charity Chinyere Ugwuarum, now
Mrs. Chinyere Isiuwe, a native of Nkanu West
LGA of Enugu State, deserves an award. It is
not easy to pass through the pressures from
friends, mother and relatives, as she did, and
still went ahead to marry a blind man,
according to her desires.
Mrs Isiuwe, a graduate of the University of
Nigeria Nsukka, said she passed through
trauma and dilemma before finally saying ‘I do’
to her heartthrob and fellow corps member in
Abuja recently. Despite the pressures, she said
what sustained her was the revelation she had,
directing her to marry a physically challenged
husband even before she met Daniel.
Difficult decision
It was not really difficult making up my mind
to marry him because prior to his marriage
proposal, I had a revelation even before I
gained admission to the UNN in 2008, about
getting married to a physically challenged
person even though it was not a blind person.
Then, I didn’t have anybody in my life, not
even a boyfriend or somebody close to me that
was physically challenged. I don’t know how
that dream came about, but I met him in our
Redeem Christian Fellowship as an
acquaintance then. One thing clear was that I
admired his kind of person.
I admire his wisdom, courage and dedication
to church programmes. He was always coming
to programmes on time, he is a very likeable
person who always have friends around him
ready to help. So, I just admired him from a
distance because we were not close then.
Parents objection
One thing I believe is that when God is
involved in something, it always goes
smoothly. My father was late but honestly, my
mother fought the battle to stop the marriage
with everything she has. My siblings were
divided but incidentally my younger sister who
had met my husband in school then, knew how
good a chorister he is. She only told me to
follow my mind.
After several prayers, I met my uncle
concerning the marriage, and he handled it
with maturity, advising me that somebody can
get married to a normal person only for the
man to become blind or deformed shortly after
the marriage.
He tactically endorsed the marriage but warned
that I should be sure of the kind of marriage I
was going into. There were friends and
relatives that confronted me to ask why I made
such choice. But I always told them that there
was no going back since I have made up my
mind.
How he proposed
I can’t really remember now but the only thing
I know is that he asked me if I would like to
marry him the day he proposed. I told him I
will not say yes or no until I pray and think
about it. It took me up to one month to make
up my mind because in marriage we need such
time to think of the new life one is entering
even if the man is not physically challenged.
Marriage is not something you just rush into.
You have to put one or two things into
consideration so that you will not have
problem along the journey of marriage. One
thing I detest with passion is divorce. I cannot
just stand it. It is better I took my time to get
it right than rush into the marriage only to
rush out.
Friends really tried their best to discourage me
from going into this marriage but one
particular question I always asked both friends
and my family members was what if I were the
one blind, won’t they pray that somebody
should marry me.
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