 Why 254? Imagine. Welkom to the Patoq Show with me Dominik. It's another one. It's nice to have you here. And I've got my team from Nibs Mkwapi. Hi, hi, hi, hi. Nibs Mkwapi. Kiki anani. Alright. So, and Masanga is here. Thank God he refused to go the other side. We thank God for that. He was really stubborn. Thank you Masanga and welcome. I've got Eugene and Koi who are going to be performing for us. And also I've got Anok who's going to be playing the piano for us. So, welcome. Two things, you know, that shook me over the last one week. Nyama yasupamaketu zikule. I think that's one thing. I think that has come very clear. And it's a little sad on the other side because I think we live in a world where profits come before people. And I hope we, the young people are willing to kind of reorient or change the world in a way that benefits and welcomes all people in such a way that people come before profit and business, do not exploit people. That was just a horrible that happens. Even though we know there are many businesses, even other than the small markets are willing to take advantage of the people. Something that happened here, remember two shows ago we had a lady called Anastasia who was suffering from cancer. And I want to read a text from her husband Ibrahim who said to the family of Y-244 TV and the viewers who sent their contribution. I thank you generously for your generosity. Anastasia is okay and she is in Kenyatta. We've got some pictures. I don't know if we can have them on the screen. And she is in Kenyatta Hospital, would see 8th floor receiving her chemotherapy. And this is amazing. You viewers, you sent 30,000 shillings. That is wonderful. Please give yourself a round of applause, you know. From this show we got 30,000 shillings and Ibrahim the husband told me we used that to buy chemo drugs for our clinic and to pay the NHIF card for one full year. And some money to pay for blood test and consultation fee for the doctors at the hospital. So amazing, thank you so much. And we continue to wish Anastasia a quick recovery as she continues to struggle with colon cancer and also to continue to say kudos to our husband who has supported her for the last three years that she has been suffering from cancer. And now we're gonna take a short break so that we can also hear now from Koi and Eugene. So let's go. Thank you, beautiful. Today we are talking about people living with disability and our topic for today is everybody matters. Everybody matters. And that's the conversation that we are having today. And my guest is Betty Brenda Kiema and she lives with disability, Paulio and she will be telling us how she got it. So what I want you to do is to go to our social media handles Facebook at Y25 for a channel and Instagram and Twitter but mainly Facebook there is a post there about today's show. And I want you to comment there your suggestion, your opinion and even a question to Brenda and if you have ever gone through a challenge because of disability or a friend, please go there to our Facebook page and comment and tell me your story and I'll be reading out your comments and giving out your shout out. So we're gonna take again a small little break and when we come back, we're gonna start the interview right away. So as I've mentioned to you, go to our Facebook page at Y254 channel and comment there. I want also to mention the number of Anastasia anyone who wishes to continue supporting her. As I said, she's at Kenyatta Hospital suffering due to cancer and if there is anyone who wants to support her, the number is 0715 312612. She still needs our help. Remember she says she uses 50,000 a month for her medical care for her to continue surviving cancer. So we really need to continue supporting her. So 0715 312612 is her number. All right, so do we have something to... Yes, now we're gonna go back to Koi so who is going to give us another item before now we get into our discussion. Koi. Yeah, good stuff. So Koi, can I talk to you for a minute, Koi? Yes, yes. Do you... Today we're talking about everybody matters. Do you have an experience with disability yourself, family or anybody? Really, but I have friends who go through that and they've come up really strong. Did you write a song? Are you writing... The two songs you have sung so far is like motivational, right? What did you write this song in mind with? They actually cover not my songs. So I just drew inspiration from them. From them, okay, okay. But you selected them purposely for today? Kind of, yes. They are fitting in so well. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much. Perfect. So ladies and gentlemen, as I mentioned to you today we're talking about everybody matters and I want to go straight to my conversation. So Brenda Betty Kiemah. You are a mother, a university lecturer and a disability advocate. Congratulations. Thank you. Welcome to the show. Thank you very much. Tell us maybe there's something I have missed. Well, you have not missed anything, I think. That pretty much covers it? That pretty much covers it. And well, he said my name is Brenda. Betty Kiemah. He's calling me Betty Brenda Kiemah. He's just mixing them. Is Brenda Betty? Brenda Betty Kiemah. Oh, Betty bought beta butter. You know that pun? Betty bought beta butter but the butter Betty bought was beta. So Betty bought beta butter. Ah, my goodness. All right. So tell us your story. My story. That means my life story. Your life story in short how you came to have to live with the physical disability. Maybe people cannot see as you seated, but yeah. Yes, one on. Well, I was born in the village, a small village in Kituri. And at a very early age, around three years I contracted polio. But I didn't know about it. You can only know that you have disability when you start seeing that there are particular things you cannot do and people are sidelining you maybe because you're working slowly and sometimes even they don't want to get involved with you. According to my mother, because it's my mother who told me the age when I became disabled, she said that I was okay. I was walking like any other child but then all of a sudden I became sick. I was admitted and the family was confusing polio with an injection because I was given several injections because at the same time I had pneumonia. So they thought that the pneumonia is what has caused myself not being able to walk. But later when the news were given to my parents that the child will not be able to walk, things fell apart. It was not easy because it's many years ago. So you were three years old when you learned that you have polio and you said it came slowly. So when the pneumonia you got you realized that you could not walk as usual. So now when you say everything is breaking apart, do you mean emotionally? No, this was in the family because they were in denial. Like this cannot happen. And then there was a lot of argument between my mom and my dad and my grandmother. Now the culture came in. What did we do? Is it a bit of witchcraft? Is it a bit of sins of the parents or something like that? Something close to that. And then my daddy, may he rest in peace. He said, this is not from our family. It must be coming from you. Now that's my mom. And you have to take care of this. So this is your mom who has told dad like that or dad has told me? Dad telling mom, this is not from our family. This must be from your family. So... And you can hear this conversation? Of course. Then mom decided to... She just decided to be quiet about the whole thing and she didn't comment much because you know those days there, those are many years ago. You're not at all looking but... The man had the final one. So for her to argue means that she would have received some beatings. So she didn't argue much. But my grandmother was very influential. She kept on saying that this must be a curse and we are not going to have this one right here in this home. So it's either you live with your girl or you tell us what to do. That's your grandmother telling your mother? That's my grandmother. You either leave or tell us? Either you leave or you tell us what to do. But you're not staying? No, no, no. Wow. So how did you feel when... First of all now you've been physically challenged because of the polio and you're hearing conversations that basically are rejecting you now. What was going through you? Well, you see most of it is my mother who was explaining to me she decided to take me to a boarding school. So at early age, that three, four years to go to a boarding school, it's not easy. But I was taken to a boarding school at that age so that I can be away from home and then they sort out their issues when I'm away. So I was taken to Portrice Primary School for the Physically Handicapped? Where is that? Mombasa. Yes. Now, do you remember what you felt now knowing? Well, at that point I was not really thinking that it's a big problem until I went back home after class eight. And I remember very well because of course the standard eight person is a thinking person. It's someone who can reason. It's someone who can see what is really happening. Then when I got home after I've done my KCP I could see a bit of some tension at home. And I kept on asking my mother is everything okay? And she's like, yeah, everything is fine. But for me I knew things are not okay. Until now I was called to go to a secondary school. I did very well. So I was going to a provincial school and that time there was no school fee. There was no school fee? No school fee. There was a lot of struggles going on. So now you thank God you've finished class eight and no much struggled with your emotional and psychological and your disability. Now you're in secondary school. Were you in a regular secondary school? I was in a regular secondary school and I can count the many times I was in school because of this drama of we cannot educate this girl because this is a curse. This is something that we are not supposed to do. And then there was pull and push between my mom and my dad and my grandmother. But everything was coming from my grandma and my grandma was influencing my dad and then my dad was in between two women. That's the mother and the wife. So it happened that at one point I had to relocate. Go now live with my grandfather on the side of my mother. Where is that? The same village, like three kilometers away. Three kilometers away, all right. And so you are going through a lot of struggles because of something you could not control at all? Yes, and something I could not understand. And then when I tried to comprehend why is all this, what does my legs have to do with what I'm going through? Like I can give you a good example. In the year 1993, maybe some of you are not born. Majority of them, yes. Majority, yes. The family planned to go for a holiday but I was not to go for that holiday. And the reason was I'm working slowly. I mean I'm not fit for that. So I was now left with my grandmother. The one who says you are a curse? The one who is really advocating I leave that family. And it was not easy. But somehow I developed a hard skin and I decided, well, as long as they are not beating me, everything is okay. Everything is okay. So during this part, was there a moment that you went through and you started feeling like the rejection that you are experiencing outside? Did you turn it now towards yourself and you start now wondering why am I disabled? Did you experience those moments or was it more or less okay for you? After Form 4, I remember I used to cry a lot because I didn't know what to do. I didn't know who to talk to. I didn't have friends. I was this in my own world. And fun enough, stress is bad because what I was doing, I wake up in the morning, I will take breakfast and when I go back to bed, I will sleep and wake up at 4. So maybe I've woken up at around 7, I take my breakfast, then I go back to bed and I'll wake up at 4 in the evening. And nobody was bothering to wake me up. Nobody was bothering to find out what is the problem. But my mother was a good lady, she is. And I can say also my brothers and sisters are good. They were also trying to understand what you are going through. what is all this. But with time, I had to decide to leave. You can make a decision to be happy even in the midst of so many crisis. So you decided to physically leave your family? No, to leave. To separate yourself from the situation? Who is she? Or to leave? Or just to fight it out and just to leave and let leave? That is it. Okay. Now, wow, that is... But how did it take you a long time between this time where you are waking up and crying every day to the moment you say no? You look, you know what? It took almost 10 years. 10 years? Yes. 10 years of simply feeling dejected and stressed? Yes, even contemplating death and many things. Wow. 10 full years. 10 full years. And you are saying you didn't have friends during this time? No. You just withdrew from the... basically from the society and into your own little world? So what happened after these 10 years that you say, you know what? I'm done feeling sorry for myself. Okay, what happened I decided to... You know, it's after fomfo. And I knew I had something that many people didn't have. One, my typing speed was too high because I started typing at a very early age. The typewriter? Yes, typewriter. With that character. These are computer people. So I decided to go look for a job. So I packed my three clothes, I remember very well. Put them in a paper bag, green and I left. I had 500 shillings. I left. Not knowing where I was going. When did you end up too? I ended up in my auntie's place. And my auntie could not live with me for long. She also decided... Brenda, we cannot continue living here because it's expensive, it says, it's that. Then I requested her to use her phone. I called a pastor friend. I explained to him what I'm going through. And he said, Brenda, I will come to see you. So he came and gave me 1000 shillings. And then I left to Nairobi. Where are you heading to Nairobi now? I don't know, I just came. Then when I got to Nairobi, I ended up in another auntie's place. I stayed in that house for less than two months. Then I met this lady. When I discovered that the life that I want is this one, I decided to move in that direction. I'm looking for a job. And I'm a typist, a flat from four liver, no any other training. But I can type very fast. So I met a certain lady. In Nairobi, there are many opportunities. You can grow very fast. So this lady, I told her, I can type, I'm looking for a job. She said, I know somebody who is looking for someone who can type very fast. He wants to publish books. So he introduced me to that person. And during the interview, we were quite a number. And as you have noticed, I don't have long nails. So we were timed for like one minute. They wanted to see how many words we can type. When I look at what he had given us, it was a big joke, it was a paragraph. So I did it and I was done. Yes. He said, you have it. Right at the spot. Immediately. Done. So from here, I think that's where now your channel opened and you went for your degree. What did you pursue at the university? I did, first of all, I started a diploma. Kenya is for management. I did human resource management. Then I proceeded to do my BA, Sustainable Human Development. Then I moved and did masters in social transformation. And I'm still moving. And you're still moving on. Yes, you're still moving on. And that's amazing. So before we go for a break now, so that your son, Ennok, how old is he by then? Ten. Ten years now, so that he can play some pieces of what he plays at school for us on the piano. What opportunities are there for people who are disabled that sometimes they don't know about? And that you would like to tell them? Well, most of the people with disability, they lack information. If awareness is well done, especially in the village, they will know the proper path to use. Could you give an example maybe of something? Because when all persons with disabilities who are in employment, they should be tax-exempted. No tax? No tax. Wow, okay. The government has waived that. And those who are working and they want to buy cars, they are duty-exempted. Again? You can just bring your car, pick it and drive. Then the other thing, the most important thing is to get registered with the National Council. Because when you have that card, you have more benefits than any other person. Medical benefits? Not really medical benefits, but like now, the tax exemption comes through that card. The duty exemption comes through that card. And the law protects you. It's only that it has not been enforced, but it is there. It is there. Employment of people with disability, 5% organizations need to observe that. Even accessing education in the institutions of our learning. It's also there. And that's why the commission of university education is pushing for the university to adhere to that. Perfect. Yes. We'll be coming back to that. I think there are some opportunities. I also didn't know that people with disabilities have. And right now, we have two ENOCs at the keyboard. One is ENOC Masanga. And the second, the small one is ENOC Kyema. Kyemeu, sorry. ENOC Kyemeu, I'm sorry. ENOC Kyemeu is the son to now Kyema. Kyemeu is the son of Kyema, Brenda Betty Kyema or Betty Brenda Kyema. I don't know which one still counts first. I'm still confusing on that one. So, I think ENOC is ready. So ENOC, whenever you're ready, go for it. Let's hear what you've got. Okay. All right, all right. Sorry. I'm going to cut ENOC for a little bit because we have some technical issues. So let's solve them. We solve those technical issues and then you're going to be back in a moment on going. Why 254? Imagine.