Stop shaming us for our disability – Katjiuanjo

TUYEIMO HAIDULA OSHAKATI Sieben Katjiuanjo sits in a wheelchair and talks about how he and many other Namibians live with a disability of some kind, but what often holds them back from leading full lives isn’t their disability, it’s the discrimination they face.Katjiuanjo said disability is not a “form of punishment” as many see it, but “it is gift for the world”.Katjiuanjo works at the Omaheke regional division of gender equality, poverty eradication and social welfare. He said disability is not any form of sickness.He was motivating people living with disabilities at Oshakati State Hospital on Wednesday in the company of Oshana governor Elia Irimari.Irimari held a day dedicated to breaking down disability stereotypes and forcing all Namibians to re-examine their prejudices. He said the engagement was done so his office could teach those residing within the region and Namibians at large how to interact with people living with disabilities.“We also want them to share wisdom with one another. We are looking for ways to best interact with people living with disabilities and find out how we can extend out helping hand,” Irimari said. ‘Everyone’s equal’Katjiuanjo told the crowd he was born in 1965 and at nine months, he got polio, which left him disabled. He spent eight years in hospital. In 1981, he was discharged from the hospital and was not admitted again based on his disability till today.“Disability is not any form of punishment but a gift for the world to see what different people living with disability can achieve or do and to show the world that everyone is equal in society. We are not sick and people should stop treating us as if our disability is an inability,” he said.Katjiuanjo said when he was discharged from the hospital, he was thinking he would not survive, but five decades later, he soldiers on, now married and with four children.He talks about the thing that most disturbs their life - stigma.“People pretend that they are there for you and tell you that you can call them any time. When you do, they act otherwise,” he said.Katjiuanjo’s experience isn’t unique. With up to 15% of Namibians living with disabilities, many of them struggle to find jobs, get a quality education, access public health services and fully integrate into society.He said people with disabilities also at times have been denied a job because of their disability, despite job advertisements saying they are encouraged to apply. Poor healthcare servicesFurthermore, Katjiunanjo said when people with disability seek healthcare services, they often experience discrimination and receive poor service.This, he said, happens especially with the hearing-impaired as there is often no sign-language interpreter to help them communicate with the nurse or doctor or duty. “People using sign language are suffering in this country when they go to clinics. At the police station they are also unable to open a case. The stigma is starting from home up to the offices which are supposed to assist us,” he said.Katjiunanjo said what he wants more than anything is for people to know they shouldn’t identify him by his disability but by his name.Like Irimari, he too wants Namibians to think about them as parents, as employees, as people, and figure out ways to create an inclusive society. – tuyeimo@namibiansun.com

Stop shaming us for our disability – Katjiuanjo

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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Stop shaming us for our disability – Katjiuanjo

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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