Home Affairs Diary: Regaining our sight not a priority; 2 fulfilled visually impaired men share stories

Perhaps the biggest wish any visually impaired person would want to see come true is to have back his/her sight back.

Well, that does not go for everyone. For two men who lost their sight during childhood, they do not need their sight back to fulfil the purpose for which God created them.

The significant similarity between these two men is the contentment with their conditions. They do fight battles of discrimination, doubt in their abilities, amongst other challenges daily.

Yet, this has not stopped them from inspiring people and playing the roles of amazing husbands and fathers every single day. Their lack of vision has not in any way thwarted their life visions.

They shared their touching story with host Edem Knight-Tay on Ghana’s number one family-oriented radio show, Home Affairs, on Joy FM, Saturday.

For witty Selassie Sikanku aka DJ Odo, a radio presenter at GBC, he said to see again “is not on my prayer list.”

“I heard that I could not see from infancy. My parents realized it around four months after pointing their finger to my face as a baby and I was not following it, which was unusual at that age,” he recounted what his parents told him.

His parents who were residing in Germany then took him to a German clinic to see a specialist upon the advice from doctors at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

There, they were told something has gone amiss with their child’s retina and nothing could be done about it.

Although his parents found it had to deal with, for Mr Sikanku his relationship with other siblings during childhood was very normal, describing it as “fun”.

He nostalgically said he and his siblings “did everything together. We played, we sometimes fought, and it was just a normal set up”.

Mr Sikanku was fortunate enough to have attended normal schools with supportive leaders and was not limited in any way by his challenge.

“It was interesting growing up…I was and am cool with my situation because I do what everyone does and I have fun,” he said.

He is a proud product of DeYounster’s International School, went on to Okuapeman Senior High School and an alumnus of the University of Ghana.

According to Mr Sikanku, his ability to quickly familiarize himself with his environment has helped him tremendously.

He recounted how at aged five he navigated his way to the School Administrator's house without any help one day she failed to make it to school due to ill health.

“At GBC I am able to go around the compound alone,” he said.

The father of one shared his frustration on securing a job because most media houses he tried to work with told him their equipment were not visually impaired friendly.

“What weighs me down is people doubting me. When I tell you I can do something allow me to do it to justify myself. I hate disgrace and won’t do anything to disgrace myself," he told the host.

The other guest on the show, Paul Anormakodie, is a TV personality who hosts 'Live Chat with Paul' on ETV Ghana. Although he is visually impaired, he says he can see some amount of light.

Also, a father of one, he has been married for a year and recently welcomed a new baby.

Although he was born with his full vision from birth he suffered from measles and lost his sight at five or so his parents thought.

However, “when I grew up I did a check up again and I was told it couldn’t be the measles. They said it could have been a sore on the eyes which were not recognized earlier.  

“But I am not bothered by what caused it. Thankfully, it started going away gradually, that is why as of now I can still see something little but it does not help me or aid me to move around,” he disclosed.

Mr Anormakodie said it was difficult for his parents dealing with two visually impaired children because his elder brother whom he follows directly also could not see.

“Peter’s condition was detected when he was also growing up and they [parents] thought it was going to be cured until he lost his sight.  

“A lot of people thought it was spiritual and wanted to assist my parents to deal with it. We went to lots of prayer camps here and there but [nothing came out of it],” he said.

According to him, his parents were relieved when they sent both of them to the Akuapem School for the Blind as they were then assured all was not lost.

He said regaining his vision is not a priority because wants to be “able to work well and to fulfil the purpose for which God created me and inspire people.”

He added that “instead of asking God to open my eyes physically, I will ask God to open my eyes spiritually because the world's battles are fought spiritually. I am sure that if you win that battle, there is no battle that you cannot conquer.”

Tune in to Home Affairs every Saturday from 7:30 am to 9 am. 

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