[traffic sounds]
[soft piano music]
[indistinct talking at a council meeting]
My name is Fazira Kauma.
I am the deputy mayor of Jinja City.
I have been a leader now for 13 years.
But also I'm an activist in the area of disability.
I was born with full sight. I did not go to special schools.
I started getting problems when I was almost completing my A-Level studies,
but I was only told the cause of the condition is a very natural one and it was irreversible.
By the time this problem set in, I was completing my first diploma.
That is in business studies in the Uganda College of Commerce.
Because my esteem had gone so low, you know, losing sight at teenage,
you're like now with my brain is at this age:
"Will I produce? Will I get married? Will I get somebody to suggest to propose to me?"
So you keep asking yourself so many questions.
I was unable to read with my physical eyes.
However, I got a volunteer that was working with the Uganda National Association of the Blind
who introduced me to Braille reading and writing and computer JAWS [screen reader].
I was quick. I learned to Braile
I went and applied in Kyambogo University
and I was given a diploma in community-based rehabilitation.
But while at the university I also became a leader.
I was a leader representative to the Council of Kyambogo University,
which leadership position helped me a lot to raise my self-esteem and believe in myself.
So when I completed my university, I come back home to Jinja. I started volunteering as a
wheelchair coordinator of the Jinja District Association of the Blind, mobilizing the blind persons,
making referrals, helping them be placed appropriately, those who
need medical intervention, personally the education, those women that my counseling.
[more urgent strings music]
I also talk about very proudly that I've been able to mentor a number of
youths with the disabilities, different types of disabilities.
You get the opportunity to interact with them but also to learn from their experience.
As a leader and really as woman, any kinds, of course I cannot say all is well
because the community we are working in they're just getting used to,
you know, working with people with disability at almost higher offices.
Not everybody is very positive, you know, making very negative sentiments,
but it's up to you to support your confidence.
How confident are you?
[Kauma talking at a council meeting]
So I really found the office, of course, with its own challenges,
but I also draw a lot of experience from my academic qualifications.
You know, but as a visually impaired person, as a visually impaired woman,
for me, I can say right now I've almost outlived that kind of consolation.
Vision payment is no longer a problem,
but it's about how you accept. When you accept, then you can be able to come up with
coping strategies to manage the condition, live with the condition, and manage yourself,
and you also be able to guide and inspire others.