By Gabriel Taban
Kwahina Esther, a 30-year-old single mother with speech and hearing impairments, lives in St. Kizito, a neighborhood in Juba lined with mango trees and bordering a water channel. Despite her challenges, she cares for five dependents: two young girls with hearing disabilities, her 4-year-old daughter, a nephew, and a niece.
“I have Stephen, Ingee, Amani, and Vicky, So the two I am paying them in school, but the other ones am not the one paying them but their brother, but the management at home is me taking care of everything,”
Esther’s journey to self-discovery began when she felt discriminated by her close relatives who “overlooked” her hearing disorder.
“They were just discriminating against me at home. You don’t move, you don’t go. It started in 2009 up to 2013. I decided to go out. I started looking for work and stayed with my friend from Uganda,” Esther said.
Esther decided to leave home in 2013 and stayed with a friend from Uganda. Despite facing challenges, Esther persevered and eventually became an independent adult.
“There was a time I got support from the Red Cross. I went to school, and it started in 2016, and I stopped in senior four because of many challenges. First, because I had no support from the family since I left home, that is why I decided to work for myself, and now I have achieved something,” Esther narrated.
Having achieved an innovative milestone, Esther built herself a provisional apartment and a kitchen in a leased estate, which has since become a home for physically disabled families.
As the dust was about to settle, another ordeal, a painful experience, again flared up against Esther.
This time, a man she trusted with all her heart betrayed their love and abandoned her with a child.
Kwahina Esther in her Office at the Light For the World (Photo Credit. Taban Gabriel, King News)
“First of all, he told me he was not married, but later, when my husband impregnated me, I was surprised that he had two wives at home, so I was really disappointed. So, we continued with my husband for some time; after giving birth, I stayed for three months, and he continued supporting me. After three months, my husband left me without any support. Now, I am the one taking care of my kid alone, paying my kid at school, is me because I don’t focus on him anymore,”
Despite the hurdles, Esther did not give up. She “picked up her pieces” and continued to discover her hidden talent.
Ten years down the road, Esther has become an independent adult and has returned the favor to her “entire” family and other people living with disability.
“My family now fears and understands me because of my success, and my brother, who was uncertain about me succeeding, now fears me the most, yet I don’t have any problem with him,” Esther said
Esther now works for various Organizations of Persons Living with Disabilities (OPDs) and is an advocate and a Secretary General for the Hearing and Impairment community.
Her full-time job is with “Light for the World,” an international organization supporting people living with disabilities in South Sudan.
Nevertheless, Esther continued to fight for the rights of people living with disabilities.
She criticizes the persistent discrimination against people living with disabilities in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private sectors.
“For us people with hearing impairment, we don’t get jobs because they always ask how we are going to do the job since we can’t hear.”
Esther calls on the government and “other NGOs” to implement “their pledges” and support the physically disabled communities in South Sudan.
On 24th February 2023, South Sudan signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
This means that the government will now have a legal duty to respect, protect, and fulfill the rights of people with disabilities in South Sudan.