He was born with Cerebral palsy, a disease that affects muscle tone and movement, causing one to fail to move in a coordinated and purposeful way.
New Ground with Patricia Mabviko Musanhu
This disorder is caused by brain damage that occurs before or during a child’s birth or even during the early years of a child’s life.
So, when Edmore Masendeke was born with this disease, with impaired speech, unable to walk until the age of 12 and unable to write, not much hope was placed on his future.
However, his parents gave him as much support as he needed, including taking him through school. When he was in Grade 4, he was introduced to the typewriter, which would become his “mouthpiece” and subsequently change his life forever! If it was not for his exposure to the typewriter, no one would have known about the intelligence that this young man has been gifted with.
With access to a typewriter, Edmore began to write. This became the only way for him to clearly express himself. “I started creative writing and I would write poetry about the circumstances that we were facing as persons who were physically challenged, as well as about other social issues,” said Edmore.
While studying “O” Levels at King George VI in Bulawayo, a learning institution for persons who are physically challenged, Edmore was one of the persons instrumental in writing an article expressing dissatisfaction at their living conditions, especially the food as they would have only green mealie for supper.
This immediately got the attention of management who sat them down and communicated the challenges the institution was facing. “I believe this is where my disability activism was born,” he said.
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There are no special institutions that offer higher tertiary education to the physically challenged in Zimbabwe and so after passing with three As and three Bs at “O” level, Edmore transitioned to a normal school to study his “A” levels. He relied on other students to take down notes for him and used an electronic word processor sent by an aunt in the UK to write his assignments.
Most of the classes were on the second floor and he overcame this challenge by relying on other students to help him go up and down the stairs.
Edmore passed his “A” Levels and in 2002 was accepted at the University of Zimbabwe to study for an honours degree in business studies specialising in finance and banking. While at the University of Zimbabwe, his passion to make a difference in the lives of other physically challenged members of the community grew stronger and stronger.
This led him to establish an initiative called Endless Possibilities whose purpose was to inspire and motivate the physically challenged to acquire skills that would help them to become self-sufficient as much as possible in every area of their lives.
These included a serious focus on education, a drive to live independently, economic empowerment and social integration. Through this initiative, Edmore sought sponsorship and offered training to students with disabilities from different universities in Zimbabwe. He graduated from the University of Zimbabwe in 2006 and received an award for being the best student in finance and banking.
For one who had been born with no hope of ever being able to do anything, Edmore had done extremely well to graduate with a university degree and land himself a job as an economist at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. In 2008 he enrolled to do a Masters degree through African Leadership and Management Academy.
“I liked the component of leadership principles in this course as well as the element of biblical integration,” he said. “I felt that I would learn more about leadership and it would help me in my endeavour to champion the cause of physically challenged persons.
In 2011, he graduated with a Master of Art in Leadership Management from the African Leadership and Management Academy (Alma), an affiliate of the University of Zimbabwe. Once again, Edmore came top of his class and was awarded the Barbra Mandizha Award given to the most transformed and transformational graduate of Alma.
The following year Edmore came across yet another opportunity to study and successfully applied for a scholarship to study at the University of Leeds. I met him last week after he recently returned to the country, now a proud holder of yet another Masters Degree.
This time it is a Master of Law in International and European human rights law specialising in disability rights. He asked me to communicate this message to those who will read this article: “You can succeed in life no matter what you go through. The challenges only make you stronger and more determined to achieve whatever you want to achieve!”
Patricia Mabviko Musanhu is a Company Director/Producer at Black and White Media Productions. She can be contacted at [email protected]
