Lydia's optimistic rise from polio misfortune
A polio survivors story
Lydia Kadzidye is seated on a mat outside her house in Kasungu district, waiting for visitors to stop by her home. The 44 year-old casts a figure of someone who is always optimistic about life.
Even an 'ambush' with the camera crew we planned at her place at Kaponda Village, Traditional Authority Mwase in Kasungu could not have easily given away her disability.
But the tri-cycled wheelchair parked close by confirms our curiosity.
"What did you expect to see, if I may ask?" she teasingly quizzes.
We quickly learn that she simply is not the 'feel-pity-for-me' type.
"Did you anticipate some bedridden person for your perfect picture, Mr Cameraman?"
That is our welcome home from her.
She is not only bold and visionary; she is determined too.
A few meters away are some dishes. A glance further takes us to a hand hoe, from which our conversation begins.
She must be a good reader of the mind.
"You are puzzled. I know, and trust me, you are not the first ones. But you can ask my neighbours, and I grow my own food," she says.
Lydia, whose husband left her a decade ago, has two children with him.
They are aged 14 and 10. She says she has managed to raise them all on her own.
She spends a lot of time in her garden located just around her house, the hand hoe balancing on her shoulder.
She does not use the wheelchair. She crawls.
She says: "I had been tilling the land before you called for directions. With only four bags, this must be the worst season for us in terms of harvest, and normally, it's 10 bags, minimum."
To break the ice, our guide Archangel Kanyemba, the district's Inter-Faith Aids Coordinating chairperson, suggests we return to the mat to resume our interview.
Back to sitting on her mat, she explains the genesis of her physical disability/
"I was born normal, and life was sweet. In fact, I could even help my mother with some chores," she recalls.
And then, 1982 happened shortly after her fourth birthday.
What started like a stomach bug and diarrhoea proved to be the decisive punch that would forever put a dent to her life.
"It happened very fast. I developed a high fever. My body became paralysed; I could not feel anything even when someone pinched me. I had to be hospitalised. My parents thought I was bewitched. They took me to several witch doctors for healing but to no avail. In the end, it proved that it was just a waste of time and resources," she explains.
A year later, her fate was sealed. She would not walk again. At least, not by herself.
Her limbs, especially the legs, had permanently gone numb, and it was polio.
"I started using a wheelchair in 1989. Before that, my family would take me to school and back; until standard five, when I got this wheelchair here. It's been my closest companion ever since."
Lydia kept pushing. She refused to give up on life. She kept the belief. But fate would eventually have its own desires on her.
Lack of school fees entailed that she dropped out in Form Two. Her father had died.
Running out of options, she got married in 2006. Eight years later, they would divorce.
With a two hungry children to feed by herself, Lydia had to think, and act fast.
"I decided to do something productive with my life since my hands still functioned normally," she said. "I currently do farming and bake some local fritters for sale from which I make K10,000 a week."
Lydia is not naive as to leave all her eggs in one basket. Diversification was key.
"I joined Umodzi Villlage Savings Group within the locality. I can comfortably say that my life has never been the same. For instance, in June, I earned K72,000 from my savings, and I used it to build myself a new house, to replace this dilapidated one.
"I still pay school fees for my children, and I want them to surpass where I have ever dreamt of," she explains.
To her, keeping busy and being able to perform tasks that society would otherwise consider reserved for the non-disabled remains her greatest conquest in life.
Lydia says: "What more would I have asked for? Life is good for me because I accepted what I am. I am a survivor."
Her reaction was priceless when she heard that the Ministry of Health, with support from UNICEF and the World Health Organisation, is championing a country-wide immunization campaign against polio. The campaigns have been made possible thanks to funding from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary Club, and Gavi the Vaccine Alliance.
She claims she had learned the consequences of polio the hard way and wishes no one ever to experience what she has gone through in life.
"Unlike during my time, these days polio is quickly diagnosed and is preventable. I advise all parents to use this polio vaccination window to immunise their children from this deadly disease."
She adds that since the vaccine is being offered at doorsteps, it is a chance for parents and guardians to utilise the opportunity to protect their children from the disease. Both her children were fully vaccinated against polio.
"Polio attacked me, and even though I survived, I am not sure others can be that lucky today. Go and get your children vaccinated now!" she advises.
