Born limbless, Nabulime embraces life with a big smile
SIX-YEAR-OLD Fatuma Nabulime draws pity and sympathy from whoever looks at her.
By Rehema Aanyu
SIX-YEAR-OLD Fatuma Nabulime draws pity and sympathy from whoever looks at her.
She was born limbless in 2001. Everyday, Nabulime sits on different busy streets in Kampala and juggles objects to the surprise of passers-by, who stop to throw money at her, while others stop to marvel at her abilities.
Many may refer to her as ‘a poor thing’ but Fatuma embraces life with a big contagious smile, which overshadows her disability.
She can do just about anything.
From writing, to wearing her clothes without anyone’s help, she proves that she is just like any other ‘normal’ human being.
“Many people call me bad names, but I know myself as Fatuma and that I am here because it is God who made me,†she says smiling.
It is obvious that she is not in the least affected by her disability nor the attraction she gets from people.
She says the attraction is good because then, she can prove that she is normal.
“I can laugh, dance, write, and go to school like any other children. I do not think I am different,†she asserts as if her entire life depended on this line.
Conflicting facts surround her parentage. While she says her parents are Sarafina Najjuko and Swabu Kyambadde, her elder sister Madina Nakanywagi, who is her guardian, says that their parents are Safina Nakalema and Mohamed Senyonga and that they hail from Kiwangala in Masaka district. She says that Fatuma is the last-born in a family of eight.
Nakanywagi, who is in her late thirties, says that Fatuma’s birth shocked the entire family.
“I was with my mother when she gave birth to Fatuma. I noticed something very unusual when the nurse, who helped her deliver, exclaimed “kitalo†(it’s a pity). Later when she brought the baby to my mother, she told her not to lose heart,†remembers Nakanywagi.
She says that she and her mother got scared after seeing Fatuma.
“We were greatly shaken. I was even scared of holding her because she really looked strange.
I thought it was something very strange. My mother’s first concern was ‘what are we going to tell your father?†says Nakanywagi.
Luckily, Mzee Senyonga accepted Fatuma. “We are all here because of God’s mercy,†he consoled the family.
However, the neighbours rejected her. “Most of our neighbours believed that Fatuma was a curse and that having her in the village meant that the village would face numerous outbursts of calamities and bad luck,†Nakanywagi says.
She says Fatuma was kept in the house all the time. She was brought out in the open after she had turned four.
“We did not want to treat her as a disabled child because then, she would become helpless and non creative. This was the reason why we even had to enrol her into school,†says Nakanywagi.
However, finding a school for Fatuma was harder than looking for a pin in hay.
Her parents pleaded with headteachers and even asked teachers for favours in vain. Schools refused to enrol Fatuma, citing her disability as a problem.
They say that it was after a teacher in the neighbourhood intervened to help that Fatuma was enrollment into school. There are conflicting facts about her school.
Whereas Fatuma says she is in top class at St Paul’s Nursery School in Kalerwe , her sister insists that she studies at St Peter’s Primary School in Kyebando. However, officials at St Peter’s Primary School told The New Vision that Fatuma has never been their pupil.
The search for St Paul’s Nursery School, however, was unsuccessful. A local councillor told The New Vision that the school does not exist in Kalerwe.
Though Nakanywagi claims that Fatuma attends school daily, she is regularly seen on the streets.
A relative, who preferred anonymity, carries Fatuma to the busy streets. Nakanywagi says that they do so to make known Fatuma’s plight.
“Fatuma deserves a better life. I bring her to the street with the hope that she gets help from good Samaritans,†she explains.
SIX-YEAR-OLD Fatuma Nabulime draws pity and sympathy from whoever looks at her.
She was born limbless in 2001. Everyday, Nabulime sits on different busy streets in Kampala and juggles objects to the surprise of passers-by, who stop to throw money at her, while others stop to marvel at her abilities.
Many may refer to her as ‘a poor thing’ but Fatuma embraces life with a big contagious smile, which overshadows her disability.
She can do just about anything.
From writing, to wearing her clothes without anyone’s help, she proves that she is just like any other ‘normal’ human being.
“Many people call me bad names, but I know myself as Fatuma and that I am here because it is God who made me,†she says smiling.
It is obvious that she is not in the least affected by her disability nor the attraction she gets from people.
She says the attraction is good because then, she can prove that she is normal.
“I can laugh, dance, write, and go to school like any other children. I do not think I am different,†she asserts as if her entire life depended on this line.
Conflicting facts surround her parentage. While she says her parents are Sarafina Najjuko and Swabu Kyambadde, her elder sister Madina Nakanywagi, who is her guardian, says that their parents are Safina Nakalema and Mohamed Senyonga and that they hail from Kiwangala in Masaka district. She says that Fatuma is the last-born in a family of eight.
Nakanywagi, who is in her late thirties, says that Fatuma’s birth shocked the entire family.
“I was with my mother when she gave birth to Fatuma. I noticed something very unusual when the nurse, who helped her deliver, exclaimed “kitalo†(it’s a pity). Later when she brought the baby to my mother, she told her not to lose heart,†remembers Nakanywagi.
She says that she and her mother got scared after seeing Fatuma.
“We were greatly shaken. I was even scared of holding her because she really looked strange.
I thought it was something very strange. My mother’s first concern was ‘what are we going to tell your father?†says Nakanywagi.
Luckily, Mzee Senyonga accepted Fatuma. “We are all here because of God’s mercy,†he consoled the family.
However, the neighbours rejected her. “Most of our neighbours believed that Fatuma was a curse and that having her in the village meant that the village would face numerous outbursts of calamities and bad luck,†Nakanywagi says.
She says Fatuma was kept in the house all the time. She was brought out in the open after she had turned four.
“We did not want to treat her as a disabled child because then, she would become helpless and non creative. This was the reason why we even had to enrol her into school,†says Nakanywagi.
However, finding a school for Fatuma was harder than looking for a pin in hay.
Her parents pleaded with headteachers and even asked teachers for favours in vain. Schools refused to enrol Fatuma, citing her disability as a problem.
They say that it was after a teacher in the neighbourhood intervened to help that Fatuma was enrollment into school. There are conflicting facts about her school.
Whereas Fatuma says she is in top class at St Paul’s Nursery School in Kalerwe , her sister insists that she studies at St Peter’s Primary School in Kyebando. However, officials at St Peter’s Primary School told The New Vision that Fatuma has never been their pupil.
The search for St Paul’s Nursery School, however, was unsuccessful. A local councillor told The New Vision that the school does not exist in Kalerwe.
Though Nakanywagi claims that Fatuma attends school daily, she is regularly seen on the streets.
A relative, who preferred anonymity, carries Fatuma to the busy streets. Nakanywagi says that they do so to make known Fatuma’s plight.
“Fatuma deserves a better life. I bring her to the street with the hope that she gets help from good Samaritans,†she explains.