By Shirley Apiaro (2015)
LODWAR, TURKANA CENTRAL
It was joy and jubilation for a couple living in kambi Mpya Kanamkemer in Turkana Central when the woman put to bed a set of twins.
Lukas Lokusi, 40, and his wife Sylvia Muya are not your ordinary couple. Lukas has total visual impairment, while his wife has partial visual impairment coupled with physical disability and a weak bone structure that makes it difficult for her to walk properly.
Lucas is a Braille teacher at Lodwar mixed primary school and is the sole breadwinner of his family. He told Turkana Guardian that he had been married before but his wife left him when she discovered that he had developed total visual impairment.
"I was married to a woman whom I loved so much. We had three children. We were living peacefully until one day when I came home and told her that I had been diagnosed with visual impairment. She left me that day. I had to struggle with the children, school and my new acquired life of 'living in the dark," said Lucas.
He also nearly lost his job as a teacher after he lost his vision. "I was nearly fired when I developed total visual impairment. I had to beg them because I knew I would be doomed for life. By then I had children who were growing up so fast. They needed food, clothing and school fees. I also had house rent to pay. That meant that if I was sacked, we would all be in the streets now begging for help," said Lucas.
The Teachers Service Commission considered his plea and advised to go back to college to study Braille so that he can teach children with visual impairment.
Lucas explained how life was getting really difficult for him when he met his new love, Sylvia. He says to him it was love at 'first sight' because he could feel that she was beautiful at heart and that she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
The couple got married in 2012 and they have been living a happy life because Syliva, who is a stay-home mum, loves and has been taking care of the first wives' children.
"She has been a great mum to my children. She has loved them as if they are hers. I am so proud of this beautiful woman who is now the mother of my children," said Luca as he held his newborn baby.
The couple, whose twins were born at Lodwar County Referral Hospital, is calling on well-wishers to support them to raise the boys.
"I am appealing to anyone out there, including the National Council for People living With Disability (NCPWD), the Turkana County and the national government, UNICEF other agencies, churches and well- wishers to support us bring up these children in the best way possible," said Lucas
Lukas has to be guided as he walks across the room carrying the baby, while Sylvia has to be supported while carrying the other baby, as she cannot walk on her own. The couple has been getting support from neighbours and relatives since the twins were born.