What you need to know:

• In 2014, I went for an extensive review of my condition and learned that besides maculopathy, I had another underlying degenerative condition that attacks the retina — retinitis pigmentosa.
• The probability of losing my sight was higher than regaining it, the doctor told us. When I got to campus, I practised independence by navigating the streets of Nairobi blindfolded to stimulate my mind and develop crucial skills.

“I love poetry. Although it’s been a while since I last wrote a poem, I write about what’s happening in our environment.

In 2020, I penned a poem titled “Darkness.” It wasn’t a composition of rhythmic verses or rhyming words. Instead, it was a raw outpouring of my inner struggles, frustrations and disappointments, interwoven with a thread of hope. It was dark; I have not read it since.

This happened a few months after losing my vision—I am blind. However, without my white cane, you might never guess my condition. I lead mostly an independent life, capable of doing many things, including reviewing cars through touch and feel.

I am the firstborn in a family of two and my childhood was fairly typical until the age of nine. It all began with my squinting eyes, a minor concern at first. But as my vision deteriorated, I felt a need to adapt. I moved from the back seat to the front of the class so I could see the blackboard. Still, my academic performance deteriorated, leading to a meeting with my concerned mother at the school. The teachers suggested to her that we seek medical attention.

Our journey for answers led us to ophthalmologists, who focused on the outer parts of my eyes. Little did we know that the key to my diagnosis lay at the back of the retina. Initial examinations showed that my eyes were just fine, leaving my mother desperate for answers.

When I was a baby, I suffered from cerebral malaria, a severe complication of malaria. When my mother mentioned this to a particular healthcare practitioner, he determined that the disease had become aggressive and that what I had was a mental illness. I was enrolled in a special needs school in Nairobi. On the first day of school, I was made both the school captain and head of sports. From the first interactions with the teachers there, they doubted my supposed mental condition and recommended further examinations. Within a week, I had lost my sight completely.