Susan Nyambura , AGAINST ALL ODDS: DISABILITY IS NOT INABILITY
They say ‘A man can do it but a woman can do it better!’, Mmmm! sound like a cliché though intuitively speaking, the versatility coupled with the positive mind set deposited within many a woman not only propel them to a position of high achievers, but in equal measure provide to them a natural escape from joblessness, financial starvation and idleness. Just to say the least, their openness to ideas and a little stretch of imagination is a stepping stone to hopping and eventually breaking forth and spawning big time into the so called ‘men’s world’.
It’s a Monday mid morning and the sun is up from its majestic sanctuary advertising it’s presence and scorch heat that prompt every body under it to drop his or her sweater . At the busy Nyahururu stage, a centralized convergent point within Nyeri town where multi purposes plays out on a daily basis including off-loading and picking up of passengers from the ever trickling in and departing ‘matatu, the so many busy bodied touts winking and provoking beautiful tender aged ladies who constantly snob and disdain their rustic attitude. Well, at yet another end, some touts rush after an arriving matatu ready to fight over and drop speech bombs to the arriving passengers who don’t fall to their trap of being directed to board yet another matatu. All in all, drama play out so well here though that boils down to making money!
Stashed in a corner, Susan Nyambura is busy thrusting the long, sharp pointed silvery needle in bid to bring together the two pieces of the left legged torn high heeled shoe probably brought apart by the pestering pressure applied while its user was busy thrusting with it on the hard hitting ground. My eyes heavily land on an open small wooden shelf keenly placed a stone throw away from the adjacent green stalls. In it, holds a few accessories that come in handy for Susan as she is busy marketing her services to her clients. Noticeable, are also two stools placed under a translucent umbrella cling on a metallic holder. As she is busy doing the final stitches on the shoe, the mother of one tells me she savors every moment of the shoe cobbler services that she has continually delivered over the past 24 years. She confesses to me that her inspiration was as a result of developing a penchant for ‘man related roles’. In 1982, while at a tender age a serious polio ailment proved to be a big blow to one of Susan’s legs, regardless of seeking treatment in three successive leading hospitals in the country that eventually left her with no choice but an operation that culminated into her usage of clutches. Susan later enrolled in the Nyandarua Rehabilitation Centre in 1986, a special school for persons living with disability dispelling a long held misconception that; ‘Some ‘lowly’ jobs are taken up as a render of the last resort ,and do not require some form of training. Second, some jobs suit some certain gender’.
It all turned out that Man’s tragedy became God’s strategy for Susan as she confesses to be one of the very first refined women to take up such a grueling task in Nyeri town in the early 90’s alongside her longtime friend who later ventured into other businesses. She says that during those times people were quite shocked to learn of her work though she is quick to point out that modernity has helped people change their minds and absorbing the notion that all work can be assigned to all genders irrespective of the background and age. Susan is always appreciative of her work as it helps maintain her and her high school teen daughter Annrose Wangari .In the spirit of , her 15 year teen daughter extend gratitude to her mother and feel extremely proud of her achievement. Asked of the challenges she experiences, Susan is quick to tell me that it’s her wish to vacate into a well built establishment as compared to open air where she constantly feels the pinch of the ever changing weather pattern. However, she is quick to pin point that during rainy season, business it’s at its peak as so many clients trickle with torn and muddy shoes that desperately calls for her intervention.
The bargaining power coupled with complaints from among many women is a set back to her business as compared to her men clients who pay the full amount suitable for the services offered.
With such an audacious act of venturing in such a job Susan feels disappointed for lack of recognition and assistance from the county government officials who in many a time subject her to harsh treatment for lack of an operating license. Susan also takes pride in instilling the course to a number of young and old women who have approached her with the desire to take up the job.
In her own words, Susan Nyambura advices particularly the young people to think big and convert their hobbies into income generating activities, bodly enough she advices them to quit being choosy once it comes to jobs but instead invest most of their time and energy in developing their skills as well as be patient as their desire will materialize as they say ‘no pain, no gain’ and nothing good comes on a silver platter instantly!
Against all odds, Susan is an inspiration to many, juggling between motherhood and her work, best activates the phrase ‘Inability is not disability’. Great respect has got be accorded to all women in the world who dare dream big and venture into doing extra ordinary things which can be best summarized into a simple yet meaningful phrase which is the ‘POWER OF BEING A WOMAN!’
By Hannah Wangechi.
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