Disabled student shares her story to give hope to others

Christine Kavale has refused to see disability as an obstacle to her dream of becoming a human resources manager.

However, the journey has not been easy for the wheelchair-ridden Kavale, a diploma student at the Thika Technical Training Institute (TTI) who have over the years learned to use her mouth to write.

The ballsy 24-year-old, the last-born in a family of nine, adopted digital technology to make her studies easier through online learning. She also uses her mouth to operate her laptop and phone to access online lessons.

She is pursuing a course in Human Resources Management at the institution’s Virtual and Extension Learning Department and hopes to be a human resources manager with a difference.

Her parents discovered she had a problem when she was very young. She could not sit and was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

College management

Using her electronic wheelchair which was donated by a Good Samaritan, Kavale goes to the institution once or twice a term to physically present her exam papers.

People Daily caught up with her when she went to hand over her exam papers to the head of department, Rose Kiiru.

Kavale is full of praise for Dr Kiiru and the college management for the support they have accorded her so far.

She enrolled at TTI in 2019, having completed Form Four at Joy Town Special School in Thika in 2018, where she scored C- (minus). She says the grade was way below her expectation.

“I hoped to attain grade A and pursue degree in Law. I really wanted to be a lawyer, but the learning conditions at secondary school were not favourable. I couldn’t write using my hands like other students,” he says.

Kiiru describes Kavale as an exemplary student—always obedient and ready to learn.

Born in 1998 in Mutonguni area in Kitui county, Kavale has faced a myriad of challenges in her journey, including lack of school fees, but has made optimism in life the only option available to her.

Admission fees

She says she did not give up after failing to attain her dream of joining the university. She opted for the TTI path and approach a former MP in her Kitui constituency, who agreed to pay her admission fees at TTI.

The ever jovial Kavale has a message to people living with disability: “Never lose hope. When the world serves you bitter lemons, serve yourself lemonade. Accept who you are and make the best out of it. Always choose to confront the challenges of life. To be physically challenged is not anyone’s choice. Take life positively and do the things you can, because sometimes what we can do normal people cannot.”

She is grateful to her family for not neglecting her due to her condition, like is often the case in many families where a child is born with disability.

“From infancy, my brothers and sisters used to carry me to church and back. My parents were also very supportive and protective; some times my mother got concerned about me using my mouth to pick things fearing I may get infection,” she quips.

She also hopes one day to have a family of her own and dreams to become a “role model mother”, her physical condition notwithstanding.

However, Kavale is appealing for support from well-wishers to overcome financial challenges, including paying rent for the house she lives in at Thika’s Makongeni Phase 6 estate. When we visited her house, it did not have a chair or table.

Her wheelchair’s battery is also worn out and needs replacement.