Bridget Kobusingye was among the students at St. Catherine’s College in Makindye jubilating after receiving their Uganda Certificate of Education results. Kobusingye was among the country’s 357 special needs candidates in the senior four exams. “First I couldn’t believe it because the math part I was terrible at math.” Kobusingye said that she was electrocuted in 2013 while in senior one. “I climbed these high water tanks, I didn’t know that the iron sheets had been connected with the electricity currents I didn’t know that; when I put one of my legs on the iron sheets I got an electric shock. I fell from up the iron sheets and I hit the ground.” Said, Bridget Kobusingye – Student. The unfortunate incident broke her bone. “They inserted nails and the metal to align my spine so that I can get used to sitting quickly because my neck was just falling sideways I couldn’t handle it up.”
Life after the operation was a struggle for her and it took her long time to get back on her feet. “I still couldn’t move any muscles, I was paralyzed starting from my waist downwards.” The teenager said she was tired and miserable in 2016 and asked her parents to take her back to school. This was against the advice of her doctors. “At first it wasn’t easy because I had not completely recuperated, my health was still low, I was not used to sitting on a desk for a long time and I had urine incontinence.” The school had no provisions for students with disabilities and most of the time relied on her fellow students and the administration. “So the students could help her, take her to the toilet, she could squat to the pit latrine, to the bucket in the pit latrine and then we could pour the waste.” Said, Lydia Nabuwembo – Head Teacher, St. Catherine’s College. “I didn’t have any problem like taking care of her, getting food for her, taking her to the toilet or anything.”
“Everyone loved me, they all took care of me. No one ever complained about taking me to the toilet even though I used to go to the toilet very many times in an hour.”
At the time of registration, Lydia Nabuwembo the Head Teacher of St. Catherine’s College decided she would register Kobusingye as a special needs student. “Really my thanks go to UNEB, they sent us someone who was supervising her a lady Jennifer Kibedi.” “I was given my own room since I couldn’t walk to the bathroom and it was a long distance, I had a bucket inside the room to help myself and also the personal assistant could help me if I get a lot of compression around my neck area she did the massages to help me relax.” Kobusingye is looking forward to becoming a Pediatrician. “Being lame is not the end of the world. I did not die because I have something which I have to do for the nation and I believe that am also going to be one Pediatrician the world know soon. And to all those guys who are disabled, they should never give up.” Said, Kobusingye Bridget – Student.
