Mark N. Watuku.
Mr. Mark Watuku has been known to me since he was a child having been placed at my
school of the Mentally Handicapped in Nakuru, Kenya. This placement followed an
erroneous Educational assessment diagnosis. whereas Mental Handicap(intellectual
Disability) refers to significant sub average general intellectual functioning that exists
concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior, Mark did not fall under this category but
due to difficulties in speech the assessesors easily classified him as such.
The error was however realized by the school teachers leading to alternative placement
in a regular Primary school and thus later go through Secondary Education which
provided for him opportunity to attain qualifications with which he would eventually
secure a ticket to pursue his dream career as an accountant. He thus embarked on
Studies in accounts at the end of which he acquired Certified Public Accountant (K)
qualifications. It was after a lot of struggle before he finally secured employment with a
missionary Charitable Organization in Nyahururu as many prospective employers kept
turning him away due to his severe speech difficulties. He continued with studies and
today he holds a Barchelor of Commerce degree from Laikipia University, and a
Diploma in management from the Kenya Institute of Management. Presently, he is at
the last stage before acquiring the Certified Information Technologist of the Kenya
Accountants and Secretaries National Examinations Board.(Kasneb) a point at which he
has met with the obstacle of inability to verbally defend his project work due to the
nature of his disability. The society of Augmentative and Alternative communication has
written an advocacy letter to the Examinations body to urge it to consider an alternative
way of presenting his project work.
Mark is a founder member of the society of Augmentative and Alternative
communication in Kenya. As a society we are greatly inspired by his zeal to push for the
inclusion of all PWDs into the mainstream of society and the fact that he does not view
his disability as a condition to keep wailing about. For him it is just a challenge and
every human being has theirs. In this regard, despite himself having a significantly
severe speech deficit, he walks with his head held high because he has made
tremendous life achievements. Mark is happily married with children. He hopes to
leverage on his communication skills by acquiring resources in digital Augmentative and
Alternative communication and our society is seeking any help on his behalf in this
regard.
.
The following is an extract of Mark’s self written story:
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,
BASED ON A TOUGH JOURNEY OF LIFE.
I welcome you to read through my journey of life:
I was born in the year 1978 in Nakuru County in a family of three siblings’ two boys and
one girl but unfortunately two who were younger than me passed on while they were young, one
at 4 years old and the other at 2 years old. During my birth I was affected by a condition known
as Cerebral palsy. My mother had accepted me just like the other children she adhered to
the advice given by a Physiotherapist to take me to a Special School, for indeed in January
1985, I was enrolled in Nakuru Hills Special school where I interacted with other children
who were mentally challenged. In that same year the Deputy Head teacher noticed some
exceptional behaviors in me. He became interested and this is where he started interacting with
me more closely and in a friendly manner. That was in the year 1986. Here he could test my IQ
in some ways including some short quizes in form of exam settings for regular schools of which
I could exemplarily perform. After some short classes of coaching in afternoons it was then he
adjusted his timetable to fit that couching with the permission of the School Board of
Management ‘Teachers can go an extra mile’. In a period of two terms he came to some
conclusions that I be intergraded into a regular school. He then searched for a school near my
home where I could be integrated. In the next board meeting he reported his findings and after
deliberations and I being the first case of its kind the board decided to integrate me in
Langalanga Primary School, a public neighborhood school.
I start my learning in Class 3 at the new school because I was already above school entry
age. However the head teacher recommended that I begin in class 2 so as not to underrate the
importance of lower primary learning. As I was taken to class 2 the children were scared as they
viewed me as a mentally challenged child. They could squeeze in one corner but as I had learned
to appreciate myself I just found a seat and looked at the blackboard ready to learn and less
concerned with their attitude. Gradually they started appreciating my presence though at a
distant. These behaviors occasionally made it difficult for the teacher to get their attention and
concentration as they were all looking at me. Days passed by and they became my best friends
and even started involving me in playing during break time and at the end of first term I was in
position 55 out of 123 pupils in a stream of 3 classes. I was encouraged to keep up and to try
hard next time by my teacher which gave me motivation to continue learning in that school. As
we opened second term I had made friends in the school and changed their perception as they
realized I was just like them despite my way of walking and stammering. They even could not
sympathize with me as if I could fall when walking back home due to my body balance they
could say in Kiswahili ‘wacha ujinga wee amka’ meaning stop stupidity rise up and continue
with your journey which did not bother my feelings. As we came towards the end of second term
my performance had improved as I was able to attain position 24 where teachers in the school
decided to reward me by presenting a gift on the closing day. This was amazing to me as it was
ever the first gift I was given because of my performance academically. This action by teachers
made the whole school start appreciating my presence there in that school as pupils of upper
classes could also invite me to play with them when we opened third term. In class, I was able to
unite the class as they could not allow others to harm or harass me even if it was in the field
while we were playing they could gang to protect against. As the year came towards the end I
became position 9. From which up to the time when I sat for my KCPE I was attaining top ten
positions, my best was position 2 in class 6 third term. When I was in class eight I requested the
Kenya National examinations Council (KNEC) to allow me not to shade the answer sheets but to
circle the question papers and extra time on my composition and insha papers, since I had a
challenge in writing. KNEC accepted my request as it was supported with a medical report
where I was allowed an extra 30 minutes. When KCPE results were out in 1993 I found that I
had performed well with marks which enabled me to join a national school in Thika Known as
Joytown Secondary School for the Physically Handicapped. Here some could not understand
the way I was talking but with time they accepted it as a normal case among them. That made
them even to select me to participate in one of the science congress presentations even if the
public outside could not clearly understand my speech while presenting. My performance in
secondary was very good as I was also able to attain top ten positions with my best being
position 3 in form 3 second term. When the year came to sit for my KCSE I returned to KNEC
for the same request as I was doing my KCPE which they accepted again but the challenge was
that it was cumbersome for me to sit for practical papers as a result of which I did not attempt
some of them.
Mark Watuku Natalina.