A visually impaired student continues to defy the odds by excelling in academics and attaining other hands-on skills, such as playing music instruments.

Twenty-two-year-old Fred Masisa is in his second year of study, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in education majoring in English and Literature. Born in Sironko district, Masisa was admitted to Makerere University on government sponsorship scheme.

Masisa says that though he is visually impaired, he does not consider it in his day-to-day life. He further stresses that when it comes to work, he puts his disabilities aside and pursues his goals in what he calls a competitive world.

“In this world, survival for the fittest is the norm,” he says. This reality made him look beyond his physical handicap and focus on building his talents.

In music, Masisa is an instrumentalist. He plays the piano and guitar. For local instruments, he beats the drum and plays the xylophone. He is also an athlete and he runs short races. He is the best runner among the blind at Makerere University. He also plays other games like the goal ball game and throwing the javelin.

Masisa has knowledge of computing. He uses the computer effectively so long as it has a software called Jobs Access With Service, or JAWS, which enables the visually impaired to read because they cannot see the screen of the computer. “Ears are the eyes of the blind,” he says.

When he is in class, he uses a manual brailing machine which he calls his pen. However, he says that acquisition of knowledge involves all the senses.

His life at home is interesting. “When I go to the garden, I can slash a piece of land which even the so-called able-bodied men cannot slash. This leaves the people around him in amazement.

Masisa was not born blind. He says that his blindness came mysteriously. He was taken for operation at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital. The operation was unsuccessful and in Primary Six, he became completely blind. He tells his experience after getting blind. “I had a lot of misery. I could not feel like a human. However, I came to understand that this situation is part of me.”

He advises all the disabled people that they should not underestimate their abilities. He says that the blind are not blind but visually impaired because they are not blind in everything. He concludes: “I have a lot of dreams in me. I am to be a billionaire.”