'No hand-outs please', Obadiah Mugendi says

Obadiah Mugendi has one mantra in life - work hard always. And this is his daily pursuit.

We meet him at the water well where using his sturdy, sinewy left hand he pulls a 20-litre bucket of water from an 80feet well as his right fist gingerly supports him on the pulley’s metallic pillars.

Teeth clenched from the effort and multiple beads of sweat grinning from his brow, Mugendi transfers the water into a jerrican and moves it about 50 metres to the cow-shed to water his young bull.

Obadiah Mugendi, 35, who has disabilities and cannot walk moves about as he repairs shoes at his kiosk in Kiangungi area of Embu East Sub-County. He also performs ordinary farm duties such as tilling land and feeding animals to earn a living and provide for his aged mother.(PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD)

While his effort is nothing out of the ordinary for rural folk, it is worth mention in Mugendi’s case because his legs are crippled and he has to rely on a wheel chair or crawl using his hands and upper torso to accomplish otherwise ‘simple’ tasks.

The 35-year-old resident of Kiangungi in Embu East sub-county is an everyday exemplification that disability is not inability. His day starts early and ends late as he toils hard to earn his daily bread, provide for his aged mother and save for a better future.

His work revolves around farming in his half-acre land, repairing customer’s shoes in his kiosk at the far end of his farm along the road and assisting his mother in household chores.

When we arrived for the interview, we found him moving on his wheelchair from his banana orchard to deliver a finger of green bananas to his mother for preparation of lunch.

Necessity has taught the man to cut and fall down a banana tuber unaided, cut off the finger and load it onto the carrier of his wheelchair. He even carries the tuber and the leaves to the cow sheds and chops them into small pieces for the cattle.

“Ordinarily, I spend the better part of the day mending and repairing shoes, but if no one else is around, I have to tend to the animals. Although I cannot walk, I can do most of the duties other people do,” he says.

His mother Dorcas Thaara, 65, says her son has proven to be an industrious person who works tirelessly at the piece of land allocated to him where he grows maize and bananas.

The mother of four other sons and four daughters says Mugendi’s desire to better his future saw him take a loan of Sh9,000 from a local sacco where he had some savings and bought a bull.

“Since I became widowed three years ago, Mugendi has been very helpful to me. He is always available to help with duties and gives me some money from his shoe repair business to buy our food,” she says.

While Mugendi’s presence and responsible nature brings joy to his mother, it was not always the case, especially at the onset of his disability.

He led a normal childhood and no one could suspect he would end up with disabilities from an ailment.

Aged 14 and in Standard Seven at Kiangungi Primary School, Mugendi’s legs began to ache intermittently and would sometimes become weak to the extent he would collapse and had to be carried home.

He was taken to a local hospital and then referred to Chogoria Mission Hospital where a specialist diagnosed him with spinal tuberculosis. He was treated and transferred to a special school in Thika where he was enrolled in a shoe making and repairing course.

The condition of his legs deteriorated and his mother says it was during visits to more specialists that they were struck with the devastating news that he would never walk again.

“Consequently, he dropped out of the special school after learning for only one term. We brought him back home and did a fundraiser to buy him a wheelchair. He was a quick learner and had grasped the ropes in shoe making from which he earns his livelihood,” she says.

She adds that when her husband passed away, she felt a huge load placed on her shoulders as wondered how she would care for a disabled adult on her own while taking care of two small grandchildren.

“I looked to God for help and I was amazed at his grace because Mugendi has taken the demise of his father, who used to help him a lot, in stride and taken on even more duties in the family,” she says.

Mugendi says he is not demotivated by the small amount of money he makes from shoe repair where he is paid as little as Sh10 for some works and on some days makes only Sh50.

“I vowed to press on and remain hopeful that I would lead a better life in future. I plan to have a bigger shoe repair shop in nearby towns and I am saving towards this,” he says.

He has one more desire - to find a woman willing to live with him as his wife, his companion and someone who would help him with his work.