Interview: Gabriel, a Hall Warden with a physical disability, has been working at Kyambogo University for over 15 years
Thank you for wanting to talk to us, Gabriel! Could you start by introducing yourself?
My name is Gabriel Nixon Okeny. I have been serving the University [of Kyambogo, in Uganda] as a Hall Warden since 1996. I hold a Master’s degree in Social Sector Planning and Management from Makerere University, a Bachelors of Political Science and Public Administration from Makerere University and a Postgraduate Dip. In Community.
Based Rehabilitation from Kyambogo University. I also have a Diploma in Secondary Education from Makerere University and a Certificate in Administrative Law from the Law Development Centre Kampala. I live with a Physical Disability as a result of a road traffic accident.
What have been some challenges for you as a staff member with disabilities?
Arising from my socio-economic background, l could opine that I am luckier than many other persons with disabilities in my very situation because l happened to be employed in an institution that appreciated and deeply understood disability from very beginning. Here I am talking about UNISE, the Uganda National Institute of Special Education, an Institution where l served as warden before it was merged in 2003 to form Kyambogo University as we know it today. But that said… accessibility to some buildings on campus is still a problem. I am therefore not able to attend key meetings that take place in the senate building like my other colleagues because there are no ramps lifts.
Generally, I am well facilitated to perform my core functions at the university and l enjoy respect and a sense of value from not just my immediate bosses and colleagues but from the top management and the students l serve.
Are there any awareness creation activities on disability on campus? How do you create awareness?
Awareness raising has been the preoccupation of the Kyambogo University Disability Assessment Committee and The Disability Resource Center for over 8 years now. The Guild Structures accommodate representations of Students with Disabilities Associations on Campus and the elected students with disabilities work closely together with the Disability Resource Coordinator and the Disability Committee to raise awareness on core concerns of students with disabilities at various leadership and management levels of the university. Every year the Disability Resource Center Coordinator and the Disability Assessment Committee present budgets for financing scholastic materials and other learning needs of students with disabilities to the Budget Committee of the university.
The Faculty of Special Needs is at the forefront of the awareness raising. Training on sign language has from time to time been organized for staff members of the Universities that interact with deaf students but have no knowledge of sign language to communicate with such students. The awareness raising endeavors have helped other members of the university to cease to view disability as divine punishment…this in my view is a huge milestone arising from a deeper appreciation of persons with disabilities on campus.
How do you try to include students with disabilities in your lectures, or for example during exams?
Students inclusion in lectures still remains a big problem….in our yearly assessment of students with disabilities…the awareness raising endeavors notwithstanding, many students with physical disabilities still suffer exclusion in the time tabling of lecture rooms. In faculties other than the Faculty of Special Needs, students in wheelchairs are literally and precariously lifted by fellow students to the upper stairs to attend lectures. We have a case where a student with a physical disability has had to sleep in the lecture room to avoid missing an early morning lecture the following day… This attests to great challenges that students with mobility difficulties face with regard to inclusion on lecture matters.
When it comes to exams, every student assessed by the Disability Assessment committee who has challenges that require extra time usually gets 45 minutes beyond normal time. Those that cannot write are often given writers to help them write down their exams. All these activities take place in special rooms arranged for them.
Do you have advice for other staff on how to include students with disabilities?
My advice to other staff of Kyambogo University on inclusion is to be around positive attitudes….give students with disabilities all the sense of worth that elevates their human dignity. When they come for service in an office setting, serve them affirmatively… endeavor to learn sign language, and so on.
Thank you very much