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Vision Without Sight: The Tale of An Inspiring Blind Young Man.

Adversity faces all of us, but for many people the thought of losing vision, our dominant sense, is a horrifying prospect.

Have you ever thought of a life changing calamity ever smashing your dreams especially in your early youth, just when you have started grasping the real meaning of life? What would you have done? Take your life or get into withdrawal syndrome? Would there be any reason for you to live or would you opt soldier on and face the circumstances as they have come?

The following is a story of one young man who have lived 25 years  beating all odds and stigma for what befell him in his boyhood.  A very unique and brave young man with a difference. Thika Town Today has embarked on bringing to the light, this motivational public speaker whose mission is to change the world through his life testimony.

Despite being visually impaired and HIV positive, Ezekiel Mutugi, a young man defined by his ever smiling face, is just an inspiration to those who are going through hard  and challenging moments.

In an exclusive interview with Thika Town Today earlier this year from the Thika GK Main Prison as an guest motivation speaker, Mutugi narrated to us about his life and his quest for bring back the youth to the right track.

Mutugi was born on 12th November, 1990 in Chuka Sub-County, Tharaka-Nithi County. He is the first born in a family of 4 boys. He was born a normal child, a bouncing baby, healthy and a source of joy to the family.

He attended Mlima Kenya Primary School, sitting for his Kenya Certificate for Primary Education (KCPE)  in 2006 before proceeding to Mlima Kenya Secondary School as one of the pioneer students.

It was not until the age of 17 years when his life changed for good.

In April 2007, he temporarily  ceased learning due to ill health. Doctors diagnosed to be suffering from meningitis which eventually made him blind. Later on, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, before suffering a series of ailments. That is when, after doctors performed several medical examination, Mutugi was discovered to be HIV+ve that had gone for a very long time unmanaged.

This revelation drove a wedge between his parents leading to his father, Edward Njiru, abandoning the family never to be seen again. Ever since, the family experienced severe financial challenges with having a visually impaired kid complicating the situation further.His mother, Enid Kaari, now 53, mother had to now bear the burden of raising him and his three siblings. It was a real hard task and only managed from neighbours' help along with her small farm.

“That was the turning point of my life. I hated myself and everybody close to me. I could not comprehend how I had gotten infected with the virus yet I had never engaged in sex in my life nor any other circumstance that would led me to contract the virus. The doctors concluded that I had contracted it from my parents. What pained me most was the fact that none of my younger brothers was infected.  I saw I no reason to live at all,” said Mutugi

Mutugi unsuccessfully attempted suicide thrice with each sensing unexplained forces pulling him back. It was then that he decided to abort his suicide mission and face his predicament positively. He resolved to be a living testimony and positively change who had lost hope in life. To him now, it was gonna be forward ever and he couldn't let anything stand his way this time.

For this, he blamed his parents for not being there for the three years he spent trying to commit suicide.

In the year 2010 he had fully regained his strength and was sound both physically and mentally. This was after a series of counseling sessions. He was now ready to re-start his life once more.

He enrolled to St Lucy Egoji Special School where he learned Braille but later dropped out due to financial constrains. Luckily, he managed to join Thika High School for Blind through the help of well wishers, eventually sitting for his  KCSE in 2015 .

Mutugi's journey as a motivational speaker started in 2010 at Nanyuki High School. He moment he publicly narrated his story, the response was so positive and the whole venue got ecstatic. It turned out to be the ignition key to his new found line of thought.

Upon admission to Thika High School For The Blind, he met a teacher, Madam Janet Gatheru, who now he regards to his mother and mentor. Madam Gatheru supported him in both education and socially and made him believe in himself over and over again

Speaking to Mrs. Gatheru who is still a student in Counseling psychology at Tangaza University, she revealed that she discovered Mutugi's an unexplored talent save the young generation that was in the process of manifesting itself with a bang. She later linked Mutugi to Madam Susan Gitau and Mr. Johnson Kinyanjui, two very re-known professional counselors and directors of International Professional Counselors Centre (IPCC) where she is sure that his full potential will be exploited.

On her part, Mrs Gitau said that she has explored the tone and the bravely of the young man and she was sure to bring out the best out of Mutugi. She was optimistic to find a sponsor to cater for Mutugi’s fees plus his accommodation saying that discovering his strengths was the first step. This would later be followed by the implementation phase.

Mutugi believes that he a bright future ahead of him and hoped to exploit technology to achieve his goals.

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