Edrisa Muwanga

For me i don’t have much to say but i just want to be specific with my situation so that you understand what exactly and how difficult it has been to achieve what i have achieved today. And after that, i am hoping that you will be able to understand and have a basis to offer me an opportunity to move away from my current level. First of all, i want to let you know that i am a person with physical disability or who has mobility challenges who comes from an extremely poverty stricken background in its entirety. Transition of my life to what i am today has been the worst nightmare that i would not wish any child to go through although this is the case with 95% of persons with disabilities. At the age of 3 years, i suffered from polio disease which paralysed my lower limbs (legs) and I could not sit but lay on my back or belly. That situation lasted up to age of 5 years much as my parents moved from one health center to another. More so, much as the community viewed me as a curse, which was common case everywhere in Uganda, my parents were determined to support me with one heart. They had hope that my life will change with time (and indeed my life changed). At the age of 5 years my life transitioned to walking on 4 limbs (legs and arms) like an animal. That alone gave a smile to my parents thus attracted them to take me to a nearby infants school to study with other normal children. This wasn’t easy for me because the community and their normal children had made me feel abnormal but with support from my mother and teacher I became stronger and determined to focus on my strength and on the things I can do better. At times I even challenged others in their own game. At the age of 10 years my body became stronger and it transitioned to using crutches and also a Good Samaritan who admired my resilience to be successful donated to me a wheelchair. But before that my mother used to carry me on her back every day to and from school to study for 8 years. At times when she was weak, I would walk on my arms and legs to school in the dusty and muddy roads in the remote village of Uganda, imagine. That was the same situation at all levels of my life but I remained focused, determined and hardworking. I can assure you with my normal brain, I have been one of the brightest pupils/students in all the pre-university schools I attended. It is on record and you are free to visit these schools and confirm. I have been very innovative throughout my life, for instance due to the extreme poverty that was so chronic in my father’s house, he couldn’t pay the school fees of all his 10 children and then provide for other basic necessary needs like clothing to his children. So his major focus was on providing school fees. So as a disabled child who was aware that I didn’t have many optionsand could easily be dropped in order to reduce on the burden, I decided to be creative in order to cater for my other needs. In addition to helping my mother with her vending business, I also created energy-saving stoves from clay and such a product was the first of its kind in the community. The community bought those products and I was able to supplement on what my father gave me like clothings and scholarstic materials. The uniqueness and talent I had helped me to attract the attention of the community, which has made me role model and consultant on various things. It is very important to know my story because you need to have a basis to your decision. I don’t have the first class or upper second class degree you need from me. From the time I graduated with my bachelors in 2005, I have been trying to apply to your university but that alone has been discriminating me. Like I have told you above, I have never been a dull student but conditions at the university that I attended could not let me achieve what I needed. I needed a first class degree but the accessibility environment and the unfriendly system of the time at university could not allow me. Look and imagine walking on crutches, where you climb a 1km hill to reach your class. Imagine, where you have to first jump trenches to reach your class, where you have to walk a long distance to line up for meals and breakfast in a terraced environment, where you are collecting water for daily use from a distance, where you walk a 1km to reach the library for further reading and reach, where you sit in a class of 200 students, as a slow learner seated behind. Imagine during exams you have struggled to reach the examination room though a bit late but the invigilator never cares to add you more time. So in that situation, how would a person with a disability who was used to have a mother around for support be able to attain a first class? I need this degree so much because it is a path I have chosen to go. I have been working in the health sector for 5 years as a monitoring and evaluation assistant. By now I should be at a much higher level but because I don’t have Masters degree, I can’t grow. Secondly, I am an advocate for better health services for persons with disabilities and if given the opportunity to grow my career, I would be much more effective when I work at a more influential senior level. Once offered an opportunity, it will be another impact story to tell my children, grandchildren, second generation grandchildren and the world at large.