THOUGH BLIND, HE READ HIS WAY TO A BANK JOB
Aug 12, 2008
THOUGH blind, he sits smugly behind his computer. He is not your ordinary person, but a visually impaired bank manager. He is Dues Turyatemba, a 27-year-old manager at Standard Chartered Bank.
BY WAMBUI OYULU
THOUGH blind, he sits smugly behind his computer. He is not your ordinary person, but a visually impaired bank manager. He is Dues Turyatemba, a 27-year-old manager at Standard Chartered Bank.
The last born in his family, Turyatemba was born in 1981, to peasant farmers in Kabale. He was a child like any other, but unfortunately suffered a bout of measles at the age of eight. Because it was treated at a late stage, it left him permanently blind.
In 1988, Turyatemba was taken to Hornby Junior School in Kabale, which had an annex for the blind. Although it was a girls’ school, his parents had no other option for the boy who could no longer play with his agemates. Luckily, the pupils and teachers at Hornby were understanding.
Turyatemba dreaded holidays, because he was always the last pupil to be picked from school, sometimes even staying for a further two or three days. “Villagers called our family accursed, because of my blindness. Parents would threaten their naughty children that they would either turn blind like me or that I would come for them. This was very dehumanising,†Turyatemba recalls.
Turyatemba got aggregate 15 at Primary Seven, and proceeded to Hornby Secondary School in 1994. It was also a girls’ school with an annex for the blind. “I still went through a lot of challenges in school. I almost gave up,†he says.
This was when he learnt of the sh1.5m award that Standard Chartered Bank was offering the best blind students from primary, O and A levels.
The education ministry would forward names of eligible blind candidates to the bank to choose from.
Determined to win the award, Turyatemba was inspired to work even harder. In 1998, he completed O’ Level, with aggregate 21 for the best six subjects and 28 in eight. In 1999, he joined Iganga S.S for his A’ level, where he took a combination of History, Economics and Divinity.
“Throughout my A’ level, I looked at myself as a winner,†he says, adding that his mind was constantly on the sh1.5m award. In the end, he got 16 points for three principal subjects, with an “A†in Economics. That was in 2000.
Unfortunately, Standard Chartered had scraped the award and was now working on restoration of sight. “I was down but not out,†he says, adding:
“It was also a blessing in disguise, because I would have actually stopped striving hard had I won the money. But I got a full government scholarship to Makerere University.†He was given a Bachelor of Arts course in Social Sciences.
“For the next three years, I worked very hard despite the many challenges I faced, like accessing print information, since I was in the same class with normal students. So the whole course was in print and not Braille, which would have been easier for us.
“Though Makerere also provided Perkins Braille for us, and I had a guide who was sponsored by the Government, it was very challenging for him to read all the books that I had to access.â€
Turyatemba says he enjoyed life at campus, going for dances and bazaars, but due to the high rate of HIV/AIDS-induced deaths, he vowed never to get involved with any woman. “I had to do what brought me to Makerere,†he says.
“I missed a first class degree by 0.1 points, but my second class upper division of 4.39 Grade Point Average was good enough. After all, I had defeated quite a number of people from my class who had normal eyesight,†Turyatemba says. “It was through hard work and networking with fellow students,†he adds.
With his degree in hand, he had no job and no reason to stay in Kampala. “I thought that I should only work with the disabled.†So when he approached Action with Disability and Development, he was not taken on; not even for voluntary work.
Another big challenge was that all job adverts came with the requirement of job experience, which he lacked.
Between July 2005 and December 2005, Turyatunga had to go back to the village. “I became a laughing stock in the village; people saying how stupid could he be to think that anyone would employ a blind person!†This left Turyatemba shattered. “I felt stupid for limiting myself only to disability organisations. I decided to venture out with other organisations. “After all, I have my good grades,†I reassured myself.
At Makerere, I had made friends with Ben Male, the country representative for Sight Savers International. I called him and asked if they had a vacancy in their organisation. I also told him that I was tired of staying in the village idle and I wouldn’t mind voluntary work if it was available.
“He told me to come to Kampala for a voluntary job. But there was the dilemma of transport. I was broke!â€
But Turyatemba did not give up. He approached some white missionaries who had a small hospital in his village, who travelled regularly to Kampala to buy drugs. They offered him a lift to Kampala.
“I remember we arrived on a Sunday, and Male had told me to see him first thing on Monday morning because he was to travel abroad the following day. I spent the night at my blind OB’s brother, Charles Ndyabawe, in Kyebando.
By 7:00am sharp, I was at Male’s office. He later agreed to give me a transport allowance of sh2,500 daily and sh200,000 per month as a volunteer. That was the happiest day of my life.
“I worked with Sight Savers from January to September 2006 and then got another job with Blind but Able, where I taught Braille. Unfortunately, I was there for only four months, since there were interruptions at the NGO, leaving me jobless again.
Turyatemba contemplated going back to the village but resisted it. “I got another job in January 2007 as an IT project coordinator with the Uganda National Association of the Blind, training the blind how to use computers. I worked for 10 months. Inside me, however, I was not contented because it was always my desire to work with international organisations. I felt that I should move on, because I now had the work experience.
In September 2007, he started looking for a job. His first choice was Standard Chartered Bank. He went to the bank’s Speke Road branch. “The man at the reception was very surprised but got me someone else I could talk to.
“So I was escorted upstairs by an officer who took me to Herbert Zake’s office, who told me he was head of corporate affairs. I told him that in case there was an opportunity to work with Standard Chartered Bank, I would take it on.
A month later, Zake said a job would soon be advertised. He told me that they were thinking of recruiting a disabled person. I brought in my papers and shortly after, I was called for an interview. I was appointed in November 2007 as Manager Corporate Social Responsibility Projects.
The programme involves a number of projects like Seeing Is Believing, (a programme aimed at restoring sight), Nets for Life (giving out mosquito nets) and Success by Choice (empowering the youth).
“Turyatemba is very intelligent, and his performance is way above average towards the top end,†says Zake.
THOUGH blind, he sits smugly behind his computer. He is not your ordinary person, but a visually impaired bank manager. He is Dues Turyatemba, a 27-year-old manager at Standard Chartered Bank.
The last born in his family, Turyatemba was born in 1981, to peasant farmers in Kabale. He was a child like any other, but unfortunately suffered a bout of measles at the age of eight. Because it was treated at a late stage, it left him permanently blind.
In 1988, Turyatemba was taken to Hornby Junior School in Kabale, which had an annex for the blind. Although it was a girls’ school, his parents had no other option for the boy who could no longer play with his agemates. Luckily, the pupils and teachers at Hornby were understanding.
Turyatemba dreaded holidays, because he was always the last pupil to be picked from school, sometimes even staying for a further two or three days. “Villagers called our family accursed, because of my blindness. Parents would threaten their naughty children that they would either turn blind like me or that I would come for them. This was very dehumanising,†Turyatemba recalls.
Turyatemba got aggregate 15 at Primary Seven, and proceeded to Hornby Secondary School in 1994. It was also a girls’ school with an annex for the blind. “I still went through a lot of challenges in school. I almost gave up,†he says.
This was when he learnt of the sh1.5m award that Standard Chartered Bank was offering the best blind students from primary, O and A levels.
The education ministry would forward names of eligible blind candidates to the bank to choose from.
Determined to win the award, Turyatemba was inspired to work even harder. In 1998, he completed O’ Level, with aggregate 21 for the best six subjects and 28 in eight. In 1999, he joined Iganga S.S for his A’ level, where he took a combination of History, Economics and Divinity.
“Throughout my A’ level, I looked at myself as a winner,†he says, adding that his mind was constantly on the sh1.5m award. In the end, he got 16 points for three principal subjects, with an “A†in Economics. That was in 2000.
Unfortunately, Standard Chartered had scraped the award and was now working on restoration of sight. “I was down but not out,†he says, adding:
“It was also a blessing in disguise, because I would have actually stopped striving hard had I won the money. But I got a full government scholarship to Makerere University.†He was given a Bachelor of Arts course in Social Sciences.
“For the next three years, I worked very hard despite the many challenges I faced, like accessing print information, since I was in the same class with normal students. So the whole course was in print and not Braille, which would have been easier for us.
“Though Makerere also provided Perkins Braille for us, and I had a guide who was sponsored by the Government, it was very challenging for him to read all the books that I had to access.â€
Turyatemba says he enjoyed life at campus, going for dances and bazaars, but due to the high rate of HIV/AIDS-induced deaths, he vowed never to get involved with any woman. “I had to do what brought me to Makerere,†he says.
“I missed a first class degree by 0.1 points, but my second class upper division of 4.39 Grade Point Average was good enough. After all, I had defeated quite a number of people from my class who had normal eyesight,†Turyatemba says. “It was through hard work and networking with fellow students,†he adds.
With his degree in hand, he had no job and no reason to stay in Kampala. “I thought that I should only work with the disabled.†So when he approached Action with Disability and Development, he was not taken on; not even for voluntary work.
Another big challenge was that all job adverts came with the requirement of job experience, which he lacked.
Between July 2005 and December 2005, Turyatunga had to go back to the village. “I became a laughing stock in the village; people saying how stupid could he be to think that anyone would employ a blind person!†This left Turyatemba shattered. “I felt stupid for limiting myself only to disability organisations. I decided to venture out with other organisations. “After all, I have my good grades,†I reassured myself.
At Makerere, I had made friends with Ben Male, the country representative for Sight Savers International. I called him and asked if they had a vacancy in their organisation. I also told him that I was tired of staying in the village idle and I wouldn’t mind voluntary work if it was available.
“He told me to come to Kampala for a voluntary job. But there was the dilemma of transport. I was broke!â€
But Turyatemba did not give up. He approached some white missionaries who had a small hospital in his village, who travelled regularly to Kampala to buy drugs. They offered him a lift to Kampala.
“I remember we arrived on a Sunday, and Male had told me to see him first thing on Monday morning because he was to travel abroad the following day. I spent the night at my blind OB’s brother, Charles Ndyabawe, in Kyebando.
By 7:00am sharp, I was at Male’s office. He later agreed to give me a transport allowance of sh2,500 daily and sh200,000 per month as a volunteer. That was the happiest day of my life.
“I worked with Sight Savers from January to September 2006 and then got another job with Blind but Able, where I taught Braille. Unfortunately, I was there for only four months, since there were interruptions at the NGO, leaving me jobless again.
Turyatemba contemplated going back to the village but resisted it. “I got another job in January 2007 as an IT project coordinator with the Uganda National Association of the Blind, training the blind how to use computers. I worked for 10 months. Inside me, however, I was not contented because it was always my desire to work with international organisations. I felt that I should move on, because I now had the work experience.
In September 2007, he started looking for a job. His first choice was Standard Chartered Bank. He went to the bank’s Speke Road branch. “The man at the reception was very surprised but got me someone else I could talk to.
“So I was escorted upstairs by an officer who took me to Herbert Zake’s office, who told me he was head of corporate affairs. I told him that in case there was an opportunity to work with Standard Chartered Bank, I would take it on.
A month later, Zake said a job would soon be advertised. He told me that they were thinking of recruiting a disabled person. I brought in my papers and shortly after, I was called for an interview. I was appointed in November 2007 as Manager Corporate Social Responsibility Projects.
The programme involves a number of projects like Seeing Is Believing, (a programme aimed at restoring sight), Nets for Life (giving out mosquito nets) and Success by Choice (empowering the youth).
“Turyatemba is very intelligent, and his performance is way above average towards the top end,†says Zake.