By Linah Benyawa
It is said love is not true if it cannot love that which is unlovable; it closes its eyes to the unlikeable qualities in the lover.
Last Sunday, Israel Yona and Scholastica Songoshindia, exchanged marriage vows and their colourful wedding was special because the presiding priest didn’t have to ask Yona to unveil his wife to confirm that she was indeed the woman he loved.
It wasn’t necessary because the two lovers have no idea how they look – they have never seen each other for they are blind.
Yona was born blind while Songoshindia became blind when she was five years old.
So excitement engulfed the Mkombozi Baptist Church in Kongowea in Kisauni as family, friends, and curious people filled the church. They wanted to be part of this unique matrimonial celebration.
The groom came in first, aided by his best man. As the groom’s men marched, the packed church sang and danced.
Minutes later, Songoshindia, gracefully entered with her bridal maids marching behind her. Keeping a close eye and hand was her best maid. The congregacheered.
Were ecstatic
By the time the bride and groom took their seats, those present were ecstatic.
Yona, 50, has looked for love over the years. He has been hurt in the past and nearly gave up finding the love of his life. At one time he even ‘married’ a sighted girl in 1985 in Tana River, his home area, but the come-we-stay marriage lasted just a month.
Then Songoshindia, a Tanzanian, came a long.
“This is an important day in my entire life. Though I am blind, I am the happiest man on earth today, as I have got myself a wife after staying single for many years. I was disadvantaged because of my blindness,” Yona told The Standard just before the wedding.
He says when the parents took away the woman he had settled down with as husband and wife, he reflected on his life much. His decision steered him towards improving himself. He wanted to be a better man.
“When her parents took her away, it marked a turning point for me. It made me stronger. I decided to come to Mombasa where I joined Likoni School for the Blind. I learnt braille and continued with my studies until I became an evangelist.”
He started evangelising. That is how he met his heartthrob, Songoshindia, eight months ago at a church function in Tanzania. It was love at ‘first sight’, or rather encounter.
Yona says he can describe his wife through the sense of touch and smell.
“I can tell her size and colour. I can also identify her even if she is among 100 women just by touching her hand. As normal human beings, we, too, have feelings and that’s why we are here taking vows,” he explains.
Marriage proposals
Songoshindia’s journey in life is not very different from Yona’s. She, too, had had a share of false marriage proposals by men who were not serious in settling down with a blind woman.
When she realised years were moving fast, she decided to pray for a husband. In Yona, she found the answer to her prayer.
“At 45, I had gone through a lot. Men had lied to me but I am glad for God gave me Israel whom I shared my story with and here we are, husband and wife.”
The couple is artistically talented. They have composed and sang several songs, which they hope to record soon.
Despite their disability, Yona says he can prepare meals, wash his clothes, utensils, and can handle other household chores.
And by 4pm Sunday, the two were joined as man and woman in holy matrimony.
The climax of the ceremony was the cutting of the cake. It was notable that Yona and Songoshindia did a splendid job in getting a piece of cake into the mouth of the spouse.
The two had officially started their journey together as husband and wife. The Standard wishes them true happiness.
