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Freedom Mupanedemo Syndication Writer
Cupid’s arrow found the mark during their high school days in Mberengwa as visually-impaired Adonia Matsheza was charmed by her classmate’s tender, sweet and tingling voice.
Adonia’s attraction was a case of “love at first sound” and love at first sight for his beau, Janet Banda.
The two, based in Gwehava Village, Mberengwa, a remote district in Zimbabwe’s Midlands Province, have defied the odds to build a life that is the envy of many.
Janet lives with albinism and disclosed her condition to Adonia who was not at all deterred as love conquered.
“When I asked her out, she told me she lived with albinism, but to me that did not change a thing. I was already in love with her,” he said.
The classmates turned friends, lovers and, subsequently, husband and wife.
The relationship – a visually-impaired man and a woman living with albinism – set tongues wagging at Chegato High School during their school days.
The love’s blossoming into marriage is today an immortal example that “love knows no boundary”.
Adonia (27) and Janet (24) might be struggling to make ends meet, but their love and affection has been their strength.
“I am blind and need guidance to do most of the things and my wife is there for me. She also lives with albinism and such people are normally viewed as cursed here but I am there for her.
“We love each other. Our relationship started in high school and somehow it has stood the test of time,” he said.
Like most love tales, their union has not been without contention.
“At first, there were choruses of disapproval from relatives, but we defied odds. Those who have known us since our early days now have a different perception of people who are visually impaired and those living with albinism because of us,” Adonia said.
Blessed with two children, the lovebirds have battled both family and societal disapprovals.
At one point they were evicted from Adonia’s parents’ homestead.
Relatives had disowned him for marrying someone living with albinism.
“We have weathered many storms. My relatives tried everything to convince me to divorce my wife. They believed people living with albinism were cursed and marrying Janet was tantamount to bringing a curse into the family.
“On the other hand, my wife’s parents were trying hard to convince her that she can’t be in double trouble of coping with her condition while married to a visually-impaired person,” he said.
With the Grace of God, they soldiered on and today their love has grown in leaps and bounds, Adonia said.
“At one point we had no shelter and had to go and seek refuge at my cousin’s homestead because my relatives would not allow me to continue living with them as long as my wife was there. The situation got worse when my parents died,” he said.
However, society is slowly accepting them.
The couple has become an inspiration to people living with disability, including those who live normal lives.
Adonia says he has never lived a life of begging despite sometimes struggling to put food on the table.
His wife, for the love of her family, endures hard challenges to fend for her family.
Janet also confesses that hers was love at first sight and that the two got “blinded” by love to the extent of not considering each other’s condition when they decided to marry.
“I just liked everything about him. My parents had different thoughts though and wanted me to find a husband who would help me with most of my needs since I am a ‘special case’ but I told them that my heart had fallen for Adonia,” she said with a smile.
Janet said the friendship they share illuminates their marriage.
“We have soldiered on together and besides being husband and wife, we are the best of friends,” she said.
Janet adds: “I think love at first sight must be love at first attraction. It somehow fades with the person losing his or her attraction with age. My love for him is genuine because it’s from the heart and not one driven by the attractiveness of a person.”
Janet, despite her condition, is the breadwinner, doing piece jobs like weeding and harvesting other villagers’ crops to fend for the family.
With a cracked face, lips and feet, she usually works under the scorching sun to fend for the family. Her body at times develops blisters and sores but she shakes off the pain to go to work for survival.
“With my condition, I need special lotions/creams to apply on my skin but that is a luxury I can forgo. I mustn’t expose myself to direct sunlight but you know the demands of village life.
“I have to go out and fend for the family, at times even without a sun-hat to cover myself from direct sun.
“I need special lotion to apply all over my body but this is somehow a luxury when you are in the village,” says Janet.
She gets maize or mealie-meal as payment for working but when they need a little cash Janet goes to Mataga Growth Point for piece jobs.
“We struggle to survive but what can we do? We have to be strong and by the Grace of God we are surviving,” she said.
The family is happy that it now has a homestead of its own and society has accepted it.
The stigma associated with their conditions across Zimbabwe worries them.
They believe there is still need for Zimbabweans to eradicate stigmatisation, especially of people living with albinism.
The couple says it intends to stick together through thick and thin.
What they have faced over the years has made them thick-skinned as they fight to maintain the joys they derive from each other’s company.
Online Reporter