Samuel Deme Dachomo is a blind man from Jos South Local Government of Plateau State. He became blind at the age of three years old as result of glaucoma. Even though her parents took me to several hospitals but much desired result was not gotten.
In this interview with Bulus Bala, he spoke about his education, family and his life struggles.
TQM. Were your parents able to send you to school?
Ans. My parents were caring enough to take me for medication, but they became discourage when it was confirmed that I have become blind. To them, I have become a waste and would amount to nothing in life. This made them not to pay attention to my educational development, until when I was age seventeen, may be people talked to them on the need for them to give me some form of education. I was taken to School for the Blind Children Gindiri for my primary education, after that I proceeded to Government Secondary School Bwolbong also in Mangu Local Government, for my Junior Secondary education. And for my Senior Secondary education, I went to Government College, Obi in Nassarawa State. After completion. I later went to Nigerian Farm Craft for Blind in Lagos, where I learned how to make things like liquid soaps, bags, and beads making. On completion, I later went in for a diploma program in Community Base Rehabilitation at the University of Jos, which I have successfully completed. And I am now waiting for admission, hopefully for my degree program .
TQM. Who have been paying for your education?
Ans. Partly my family, relations and me.
TQM. What working are you doing?
Ans. I am by God’s grace, a gospel minister, where I do get some money to pay for my education and pay people to cultivate my farm for me. I also make bags, soaps and some other beads products for sale.
TQM. What types of crops do you cultivate?
Ans. I farm crops like maize, beans, sweet and Irish potato.
TQM. What is your experience with regards to discrimination within the family and outside?
Ans. The discrimination is no longer there directly like before, both in the family and outside the family. May be because, I have grown up and I have been educated to a certain level, in addition to those things that God have been given me the ability to be achieving in life.
TQM. You are into farming and producing products like soaps and other beads products. Have you ever received any support from anywhere towards these business?
Ans. No.
TQM. Have you applied for it, if you do, what is the outcome?
Ans. I have applied for it in the past. But without success.
TQM. What are some of the difficulties you are facing in carrying out your Music, farming and beads making?
Ans. The major one is finance, how to pay for music production, like the studio work, and some people just don’t like the music when they realized that it is the product of a person with disability, they usually have the feeling that the production will be of low quality. And farm inputs like fertilizers are really out of reach.
TQM. What would be your personal call to any person reading your story?
Ans. My appeal is this, I should be assisted with farm inputs and money for the production and publicity of my Music.
TQM. Thank you sir for granting me this interview.
Ans. You are welcome.
