Teacher remains undeterred in the face of paralysis

Tafadzwa Chibukwa

TRIALS and tribulations are certain situations that humans come across in life. For some, they bring them down and for others, they come as stepping stones to greater heights and avenues.

Faced with such situations that catch people off guard, the trials and tribulations present themselves as a test to them and their spouses, families and anyone around them.

This is a time when one sees who is true to them and who is not.

For Mr Abednigo Moyo (31), being involved in a tragic accident that left him paralysed from the waist down came at a time when all was settling in order for him.

Mr Moyo was a primary school teacher in Mbazhe, Nkayi when he met with a test that he had never faced.

He made headlines five years ago when he was involved in a car accident that left him with a permanent injury while he was on official duty. Having been left disabled, Mr Moyo did not take this as a setback to bring him down, rather he took it upon himself to break stereotypes and prove that although he might have been left disabled, he will not live a life of begging.

Today, he lives to prove himself by aiming high in his aspirations and goals.

When a Chronicle newscrew caught up with him recently, Mr Moyo was in the company of primary school children who had books on their laps, all seated up straight and listening attentively to what Mr Moyo was saying.

Holding a textbook in his hands, with it leaning against his chest, Mr Moyo was explaining some Mathematics concepts to the children. He narrated his recovery from being depressed, stressed and overthinking to pulling himself up, dusting himself up and moving on with his life. But the journey has not been easy.

“Working as a regular teacher, I did not earn much and being involved in such a tragic accident was something I never expected or had even prepared to endure. After the accident, I was hospitalised for one month at Mpilo Central Hospital, with no intervention as I failed to raise surgery fees. I later went to South Africa after getting help from a Good Samaritan doctor and some other good people.

“I could not afford to pay my hospital bills or even buy the required medication. That is how dire my situation had become. I was always stressed and depressed due to overthinking on how and where I would get the money from. Things were not good as the little that I got was channelled to medication, physiotherapy and continence aids (adult diapers) which I am now using daily,” he said.

Doctors said Mr Moyo had a complete spinal cord injury with ASIA meaning a thoracic vertebrae T9 and T10 had been crushed leaving the spinal cord severely compressed.

This meant that all his life, he would be using a wheelchair and following the accident, he also lost control of his bladder.

At the time when Mr Moyo got involved in the accident, he was teaching in Nkayi and at the same time doing his Bachelor of Education Degree in Agriculture at Solusi University, a degree for which he graduated and is now doing Masters.

“I have fully accepted myself as I am and told myself that this is how things are and there’s no reverse to my situation. I am doing quite well through the multiple projects that I am working on so that I can make some income to sustain my demanding lifestyle. To avoid being stressed always, I decided to go back to work and after work, I would teach primary school children in my suburb for free,” said Mr Moyo.

He is now teaching at Josiah Chinamano Primary School in Bulawayo’s Emakhandeni suburb, at the same time enrolled as a Masters student at Zimbabwe Open University.

One thing is for sure, Mr Moyo has not let disability take away what his parents and himself have worked so hard for in funding his education; he is striving towards achieving his goals.

“I realised that sitting idle and admitting defeat would not help me in any way, rather I should be my own man and make money to sustain my now so demanding life. I approached my elder brother and we purchased a farm where we are growing tomatoes and cabbages among many other vegetables. I realised that I cannot sit on my intelligence and let it go to waste, rather as someone who has ideas, I can be in a position to supervise while someone implements them,” said Mr Moyo.

As someone who has been both able-bodied and disabled, Mr Moyo said there is a need for the rights of physically challenged people to be advocated for.

“As someone who had the privilege to have been able-bodied and also be disabled, I now relate to both communities. I know how able-bodied people treat disabled people as well as how disabled people themselves treat themselves in society. Let us shun stigmatisation and discrimination towards people living with disabilities as they are humans just like anyone else; they have rights that they have to enjoy as well. I have realised that we tend to hide disabled people from society and side-line them. It is not embarrassing to have a disabled child, relative, to associate with them or even to marry them,” he said.

Mr Moyo urged people living with disabilities to be confident enough to strive for what they want, and the community to accept them as they are because they are equally human.

“The disabled community should not allow a situation where the so-called able-bodied look down upon them, they should strive for excellence to prove to the world that they can do anything.

“To parents and other so-called able-bodied communities, let’s change our mindset towards disability issues. As someone who has lived both lives, being able-bodied and being disabled, I understand disability better,” he said.

Mr Moyo believes not even the sky is the limit for him. Just like any other man, he hopes to get married and have his own family.