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| Features |
| Blind but not defeated: The story of Aulalia |
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by
Edyth Betha, 30 January 2004
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13:34:00
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For most people, blindness closes the door to all possible avenues of success in life. And it is not something that people will raise their eyebrows about and wonder how someone who is blind has not been able to make it in life. But when the situation is the opposite, and you see a blind person being self-reliant, people begin to wonder.
Such is the story of Aulalia Tengeza.
Born with sight 38 years ago, Aulalia became blind when she was barely a year-old after a severe smallpox attack. As such, she has never experienced what it feels like to be sighted.
But one thing that immediately strikes you when you meet Aulalia is her positive attitude. Throughout her life, this woman who lives in Bangwe, Blantyre, with her family always strives to be independent and not be a bother to her community, as she put it.
It is a mystery how she manages to survive with a husband who is also blind and four children of school-going age. But this predicament is not confined to this family alone, it stretches out to many more others in our society, most of whom we see begging in the streets.
Aulalia and her family have never taken to the streets. She said of street begging: “It is a waste of time. I would rather use the time to do something more productive. Those who use blindness as an excuse to begging have just developed a bad habit.”
Their neighbour, Janet Bengo has not been spared of the wonder. She said she is always amazed to see Aulalia going into her garden which has different types of vegetables and be able to choose just the type she wants.
“This woman and her family are really amazing. She does everything by herself — from gardening to household chores — there is nothing that she can’t do. Apart from that, she is also a business woman,” said Bengo.
Aulalia is a very active woman. Her household is very modest in every sense of the word. She earns her living through knitting and sewing. She has a sewing machine but she knits manually.
Watching her knit is very interesting. She is able to mix different colours of wool without messing them up, and the patterns come out perfectly.
At the time of interview, she wore traditional wear — a doek, blouse and skirt with an extra chitenje on top. She says it is a church uniform she made herself from a cloth she got from her friends at Bangwe Catholic Church where she congregates.
“I only need to be provided with a pattern, I do the rest. But I have problems finding a market for my products, though. People in my neighbourhood would rather buy second hand clothes from the market. They want cheap stuff but when in business, one has to consider the input in order to make profit,” explained Aulalia.
The house the family lives in was built by themselves. They get their water from an open well just in front of their house.
But her capabilities are not limited to household chores. As a staunch member of the Catholic church, she is a well-known preacher at her local church and she participates in the church choir She also reads scriptures during prayer services, using braille.
“I share with my friends my singing talent. I am the only blind member in this choir,” said Aulalia.
Tengeza acquired her skills from Magomero Training Centre where she was from 1984 to 1986. She did domestic skills, including tailoring and knitting. Before that she was at Montfort Demonstration School in Chiradzulu from 1972.
“That is where I learnt how to read using braille. I could read the Bible when I was in Standard Two. When preaching at church, I also read the Bible using Braille. People are always amazed at the end of my sermons, they don’t believe a blind person like me can do that much,” she said
There always seems to be mysteries surrounding the blind. One wonders, for example, how a blind man chooses a wife and similarly, how a blind woman knows whether the man she is getting married to is the right one.
In Aulalia’s case, she said she met her husband Andrek in 1986 through a mutual friend.
“That friend of mine had been telling me about this man for some time but I never took it seriously. But when I met him at the friend’s house in 1986, we hit it off immediately,” she explained.
Aulalia and Andrek now have four children, two boys and two girls. The parents are full of praise for their eldest child, Nicholas, who is 16 and doing Standard 8. They say he takes good care of them.
“Nicholas is only 16 but he acts like an adult. When he gets a little money, the first thing he thinks about is how he can use it to help the family,” says Andrek.
Andrek said life has not been easy for them since he was made redundant in 1993 at Bangwe Weaving Factory.
“We are basically surviving through the grace of God. We would have loved to find sustainable means of earning a living but we lack capital. We can’t go to a lending institution for a loan because we have no surety,” complained the husband.
He, however, said that they can never compromise their children’s education. They, therefore, sought assistance from an organisation called the Samaritan who provide support as far as the children’s education is concerned.
Despite all these problems, Aulalia sees a bright future ahead. She said: “I have a happy family. We have been blessed with children to help us around and friends in the community to encourage and support us. And as long as our children get educated, there is a future for our family.”
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