Film
Chrissy Matumba Becomes the First DeafBlind Student at Prestigious Malawian Secondary School
Of the nearly 400 DeafBlind people living in Malawi, 250 are school-aged children, according to a survey by the Visual Hearing Impairment Membership Association and the Malawi Council for the Handicapped. These children are falling behind in education, as schools often lack the resources to provide learning accommodations for DeafBlind students. “There was a lack of assisted devices, fellow students dejected me when I sought help, and also a scarcity of teaching and learning materials,” says Chrissy Matumba, who recently became the first DeafBlind student admitted to Blantyre Secondary School, a prestigious public high school in Blantyre, Malawi. Duster Lucius, a 2022 DJP fellow who is DeafBlind, sits down with Matumba and Ernest Sokasoka, head of the special needs department at Blantyre Secondary, to discuss challenges facing DeafBlind students in schools.
Editing assistance by Desmond LaFave
Duster Lucius is a 19-year-old disability youth activist who is DeafBlind (partial hearing, completely blind). Malawian by nationality and Yao by tribe, he is a national youth coordinator at the Visual Hearing Impairment Membership Association (VIHEMA), an organization advocating for the rights and needs of persons who are DeafBlind in Malawi. At VIHEMA, Lucius advocates for the inclusion of youth who are DeafBlind in all the Malawian government's strategic development activities. Aside from his advocacy work, he currently studies at St. Patrick's National Secondary School in Mzedi.
About this video: DJP Fellow Christine Oliver Dhikusooka sets out to learn the reasons why Ugandans with disabilities are underrepresented in the country's formally employed workforce - and to uncover possible solutions.
About this video: Limited access to food and medicine poses significant risks to Ugandans with with disabilities who are HIV positive. Advocates are asking for more government support for their life-saving programs.
About this video: 2021 DJP Fellow Esther Suubi provides an intimate look at how Ugandan women with psychosocial disabilities unite against discrimination. *Audio descriptions for blind and low-vision audiences.
About this video: Of the nearly 400 DeafBlind people living in Malawi, 250 are school-aged children. DJP Fellow Duster Lucius interviews Chrissy Mutumba, the first DeafBlind student accepted at a prestigious high school in Blantyre.
About this video: Beth Gatonye founded Seeing Hands Rwanda after noticing the high unemployment rate among Rwandans with disabilities. Her organization is working with participants to transition from training to employment.
About this video: In his latest report, DJP Fellow Duster Lucius examines how Malawi's mismanagement of funds and lack of accessible information on financial assistance put students with disabilities at risk.