Children skip school to guide blind Goreangab mum

Hilia Haimbondi’s two youngest children, aged six and eight, have repeatedly had to miss school to guide their visually impaired mother to morning appointments at Windhoek Central Hospital, as her deteriorating eyesight has left her increasingly dependent on her family.

The 45-year-old mother of five, aged 22, 18, 12, eight and six, can no longer travel to hospital, visit shops or even reach the outside toilet without assistance. She says her children have become her guides.

Haimbondi lives with her two youngest children, aged six and eight, in a shack in Goreangab, Windhoek. She told Namibian Sun that her dependence on them has become particularly difficult when hospital appointments clash with school.

At one point, a nurse at a clinic near Black Chain Complex told Haimbondi she could come in the afternoon, after the children are let out of school.

Her follow-up appointments at Windhoek Central Hospital, however, are still scheduled for mornings, meaning one of her children has to miss school whenever she needs someone to accompany her.

Haimbondi says her eyesight problems began in 2022, when she started experiencing severe headaches and pain on the left side of her face.

“It was like a white thing was covering my eyes,” she recalls, adding that when a neighbour accompanied her to the hospital, she struggled to see people's faces in the taxi.

“I could make out the clothes I was wearing and the clothes of the driver and other passengers, but I could not see their faces properly,” Haimbondi says.

She was admitted overnight.

Although her eyesight improved slightly, the pain in her left eye remained severe, and it could not open properly.

“I returned to the hospital and was eventually referred to the Windhoek Central Hospital, where I received treatment, and in the 2023 period, my eyesight improved enough for me to travel to the hospital by myself,” she says.

In November that year, she says the sight in her left eye began deteriorating again and by early 2024, she could no longer walk on her own.

Today, Haimbondi can make out only blurred images of those standing before her and cannot tell who it is unless the person speaks.

Finding her way by touch

Haimbondi has memorised where things are kept and relies on touch and her knowledge of the layout of their home to cook, do laundry and other household chores.

“I can still cook and do laundry without being able to see properly,” she says.

When she needs to hang clothes outside, she uses the shack’s frame as a guide.

“Because the washing line is close to the structure, what I usually do is lean against the shack and move along it until I reach the line, then I use my hands to find it and hang the clothes,” Haimbondi explains, while demonstrating the difficult task.

She still sometimes walks into objects, misses the doorway or bumps into the structure, while cooking has become dependent on memory and touch.

Haimbondi sometimes misses the pot while pouring cooking oil, misplaces ingredients or accidentally adds too much salt.

Her eldest daughter (22) helps around the house, but Haimbondi has developed ways of managing when her children are away.

Haimbondi hails from Edundja village in the Ohangwena region and moved to Windhoek in 2006 to find work.

She initially lived in Okuryangava, working as a shop assistant and later as a domestic worker, before moving to Goreangab in 2015.

She currently survives on N$1 600 a month, which she calls her “pension” and which is now her only regular source of income.

Haimbondi is also concerned about the condition of her shack, which she says was not properly constructed and has supporting poles that do not go deep enough into the ground.

“I need help renovating or rebuilding it so that it can provide a safer and more secure home for myself and the children."

A neighbour’s concern

Lukas Lukas (43), a neighbour of Haimbondi's, says he has watched her eyesight deteriorate over the past four years.

"I have been neighbours with Haimbondi since she moved to Goreangab in 2015. She found me here, and when she first moved here, she was perfectly fine and had no problems. Her eye problems only started after she moved here," he says.

“At the time, her condition was not as bad, but nowadays I can see that her eyesight is really deteriorating because she can no longer move around on her own," he says.

"Every time I look at her now, I feel pity because the little that she receives to feed her family is nowhere near enough,” he adds.

Lukas said the rising cost of living has made supporting a family increasingly difficult.

He points out that rising inflation and the "ever-increasing cost of living" are forcing even non-disabled people without any health problems to struggle.

"She has five children, and the schools also require money for various expenses,” Lukas says.

He said he assists Haimbondi whenever he can.

“Whenever I have something to spare, I always make it a point to take it to her and check whether she is doing well or needs any kind of help,” Lukas says.