God never says oops!

Bongani Ndlovu, Chronicle Reporter
ALL Mr Nqobile Ndema Ngwenya wants is for people not to feel pity for him, not to look at him like a charity case but treat him like any other human being.

Mr Ngwenya who was born with cerebral palsy (CP), a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture has made peace with his condition.

A son to educators, the late Mr Mthandazo Ndema Ngwenya, a well-known Ndebele author and his mother Mrs Elizabeth Ngwenya, a retired headmistress of John Slavan school, Mr Ngwenya was born on 19 November 1974.

He is the second born in a family of five, made up of two boys and three girls.

Mr Ngwenya said he had and still has the same aspirations as many able-bodied people as this was one of the fundamental blocks that built his life.

He said because of CP he had to be enrolled at King George VI Memorial School in Bulawayo for children with special needs.

Although he did not complete his Ordinary or Advanced Level, Mr Ngwenya is the first African with a disability to study computers at a United Kingdom school 26 years ago.

Interviewing Mr Ngwenya is a challenge as his speech is impaired and for him to communicate with people, he has to innovate.

Mr Ngwenya actually types his responses on his phone and that is how this reporter managed to conduct the interview.

He responded to questions fielded through the WhatsApp platform.

Mr Ngwenya said God never made a mistake with him as he was privileged to be born with cerebral palsy.

“I was disabled by cerebral palsy, but I am not a victim of cerebral palsy. I say this with all of my heart. I thank God for giving me the privilege to be born with cerebral palsy, why? So that His glory may be revealed in my life. As my favourite pastor Reverend David Ring, from the USA, who also has cerebral palsy, always says with a sense of humour, God never says ‘Oops’,” said Mr Ngwenya.

He said it was in 1988 that computers caught his interest at his school when he was 14.

“My love and passion for computers grew around 1988 when I was introduced to word processing computers which were donated to my school by Bulawayo’s twin city, Aberdeen. Those were the early days of computers. I migrated from an electric typewriter to a word-processor. Back then computers didn’t come with Windows like now, we used to run all the application programmes through MS DOS. I just loved computers from the beginning and I found them amazing,” said Mr Ngwenya.

Before leaving school, a teacher gave Mr Ngwenya a computer and he remembers fondly how he would play computer games with his cousin Xolani who is now based in Canada.

“When I was leaving school in 1992 my computer teacher from Holland gave a computer and a printer as presents because she saw my love and passion for computers at a younger age.

“My cousin Xolani Ndema from Cañada used to walk from my grandfather’s house in Tshabalala to my parents’ home in Newtown West just to come and play computer games with me. One amazing thing about my cousin Xolani who I now refer to as my young brother, it didn’t matter what kind of weather it was, every Friday after school, you would find him at home. We could play computer games from morning to late at night. Today he is also an ICT expert like me,” said Mr Ngwenya.

He is a firm believer in the Almighty and holds on to the phrase, God is able, in every facet of his life.

“When I was seeking to pursue my studies in the UK 26 years ago, people did not think I was capable of that because of my disabilities. It’s the people who put their limitations on me by their attitudes. I never put limitations on myself. People judge me based on my disabilities and as such do not give me the opportunity to prove myself.

For me success is not a preferred term, it is a contest of hard work, commitment and human sweat. Nothing is impossible when you have a positive image of yourself.

In 1992, Mr Ngwenya said God gave him a dream to pursue Information Technology studies in the United Kingdom and he found a college and the tuition fees was £25 000.

“To the human mind it was impossible and out of reach but I saw through the eyes of faith. As the Bible says “the just shall live by faith”. I started calling things into being by faith. My teachers and the headmistress tried to convince me to forget about my dream because they thought that I wasn’t capable of pursuing such studies.

“The reason was they judged me based on my learning difficulties and I didn’t attain O and A-levels which is required by international standards and no one would give me that kind of money,” he said.

Mr Ngwenya said in 1993, he was chosen to be one of six pupils to take part in the Calvert Trust Tour to England, Scotland and Denver Exmoor for three weeks.

They participated in a range of sporting activities designed for people with disabilities and visited Bulawayo’s twin city Aberdeen and Number 10 Downing Street and he said they met the wife of former British Prime Minister John Major, Norma.

This is where, Mr Ngwenya says, God set in motion the wheel for him to realise his dream of studying IT in the United Kingdom.

“After three years of attempting to be enrolled at college and seeking financial assistance, God used Miss Alison Cameron to negotiate with the college authorities and the college agreed. They offered me a short course for three months and tuition fees came down from £25 000 to £4 200 pounds just for me. It didn’t come down because I was clever or I’m smart. It was because I had faith to believe in God and his word,” said Mr Ngwenya.

Upon his return to Bulawayo in 1999, he worked for Bulawayo City Council on a two-year contract in Human Resources section as a clerical assistant and assisting in training staff to use computers.

From 2001, Mr Ngwenya has been running his own ICT company specialising in digital photo slideshows using Pro-Show Producer, converting old VHS tapes to DVD and is now using Adobe Premiere, video editing software and CS Photoshop.

He aspires to open and run his own internet café and learn to drive.

Mr Ngwenya is still looking for the love of his life.

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