An Independent Blind Girl

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Have you ever seen a blind person do things sighted people do? Like cook? Chat on Whatsapp? Posts on Facebook? Sweep? Choose her clothes by herself? Wash her clothes? Does her makeup herself? This sounds impossible, like an imaginary tale story meant to bring to fictionalized characters through creativity and self expression.

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I want to tell you a story about a girl, not an ordinary girl but a blind one, not just a blind girl but a story about a blind girl who still sees. Odd right? She is blind however; she does everything a normal human being do. She walks around unaided except places she is not familiar with or on her way to school, market and church (where you have to go through busy roads). She is also a computer literate; she is so smart and intelligent.

I remember moving to the hostel; “There is a blind girl in the hostel, please always assist her in any way you can” the owner of the hostel told me. So I did a little research, looking for a girl, probably holding a walking stick, with close eyes or dark glasses, I couldn’t find her. Was the man telling lies? Or she hasn’t arrived? But this is already two weeks after resumption.
Few weeks later, we had a general meeting in the hostel, to discuss about the general sanitation. Our hostel wasn’t owned by the school, it was a private hostel owned by one of the lecturers, a three bedroom flat with a kitchen, toilet and bathroom. The last person to enter into the room, stumbled over the ladder close to my bed, “That’s the blind lady” my roommate seating beside me whispered to me. My eyes widen, I know her, so what I was searching for was beneath my nose.

Then I went back in time to the first day I moved to the hostel, my bed is close to the door, I decided to leave it opened since there was no light and everywhere was hot and stuffy, I saw her coming through the passage, looking straight at me, so I greeted her (just nodded and murmured) but she didn’t answer. Within me, I thought she was being snobbish, not knowing that she didn’t see me. Another time, I saw her in the kitchen, she asked of my name, told me stories of how NIJ guys can be very heartless and wicked, gave me an advice not to ever date one if I like myself. During the gist, I noticed she wasn’t looking straight at me, her eyes were a little bit crossed, I just thought they were like that, not knowing that she wasn't seeing me at all, she was just facing the direction of where my voice was coming from.

So one day, I asked her about her story (I can be very curious). “I used to see, I know the colour of the sky, that’s my favourite colour, Blue! I know plants are green, I know how the world looks like, my world wasn’t all about darkness, I was a happy girl, filled so much life, a little girl just fresh out of secondary school with big dreams, I was the youngest in my set, just 13years old, I even got an admission to the University of Calabar to study Accounting” She said to me.

“ First, I couldn’t see clearly, I started with spectacles, then it got worse, I had to see an optician, he diagnosed Cataract, so I was taking drugs to cure but the situation got worse instead. One day, I woke up in darkness, everything was no longer blurry like before, everywhere was dark like day hasn’t broken yet, like it was 8pm, like I forgot to switch on the light. Mom rushed me to the hospital, the optician diagnosed another thing, Glaucoma, Cataract was mistake, a wrong diagnosis, I never had it, so the drugs for it was too strong for my eyes, it robbed me off my sight. It was too late, nothing could be done, and mom said suing the hospital won’t bring back my sight, so what was the use?” She asked me the rhetorical question, I was already in tears, I can be very emotional sometimes.

“Then my dreams were lifeless, hopeless, with no possibility of coming alive” she continued. “Everything was tumbling down, like a sand castle, when the sea washes it away. I couldn’t reach up the wardrobe to take things by myself; I couldn’t be the independent girl I used to be, people watch helplessly when I try to do things myself refusing their help, I cry when I can’t do it and have to call on the person I refused his or her help to assist me, I couldn’t watch my favourite TV programmes, everything around me reminded me of my situation, every day I wake up to darkness, every day I don’t want to wake up from my dreams, where my world is normal and perfect”. Her voice wobbled a little, her eyes shining with unshed.

“One day, I decided to go after my dreams, despite my condition, I decide to adapt to what life has thrown to me, I decide to still be the best at what I do, I decided that I can still be an independent blind girl, it would take years to learn but I will try to be like the mystical phoenix bird, from the ashes, come forth beauty and a new life. And here I am now”.
“Sometimes people don’t believe I can’t see, they think I see partially, that is to tell you how good I am, I am not bragging but determination and persistence got me to where I am today” she concluded.

Her story inspires me, anytime I want to give up, I remember her, the determined lady, she had every reason to sit back, every reason not to pursue her dreams but she thrive hard, went through the normal system everyone went through, she refused to be tossed around, when life gave her a pot of beans, she made moi-moi.

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