Bugembe Nelson has a soul-touching story that anyone will get motivation from. Though the polio disease came too early in his life, it has not deterred his determination to achieve whatever he wants to achieve in life.
He has been able to stand out and he is on his high way to greater achievement. Obviously his journey has been and is not an easy one; from bullies at school to toiling for his own tuition at University, Bugembe is on the rise. With plans of owning a quad bike to help him in his detergent business, Bugembe is determined to achieve anything behind his disability. Below is his full story as told to the Hive by himself.
My name is Bugembe Nelson, I am 23 years old, a graduate of Kampala International University (KIU). I also hold a diploma in Information Technology and a certificate in computer repair and maintenance from Datamine Technical Institute.
I was born just like any other ordinary child, at the age of two, however, I was taken for a polio immunization program but instead, my parents and I were shocked that the immunization itself ended in polio. It was very unfortunate and depressing, nevertheless, life had to continue irrespective of what happened. It took me close to seven months in Mulago hospital where Medical personnel tried their best to level my legs because one side had become short. Later when I was discharged from the hospital, I was taken back home and my father removed all that the doctors had improvised. After that, I was not able to walk any distance but rather just keep in one place, or perhaps crawl on my knees in case of any necessary and urgent movements. This went on until my father taught me how to use a walking stick to support my movement.
After the rehabilitation of learning to walk with the support of a walking stick, I was enrolled at school for my primary education. After Primary, I proceeded to secondary. In secondary, however, another great challenge was the bullies that made life hard for me, although never stopped my persistence till I finished my University education. While at campus, I also encountered barriers like climbing the stairs on a daily basis because my classes were on a storied building, and had to access them for my nature of the disability, amidst all the challenges. I didn’t give up on my dream and I had to look for the half of my tuition to top on the half scholarship that the university had offered me. Besides that, I had to look for ways of getting upkeep for myself and other means of survival with only a little assistance from my family and friends until I sat my final papers which I passed paving ways to the dreams I have always had. Today, am proud to say that I am a qualified I.T Personnel, and I also decided to major in Social Media management.
During the outbreak of COVID-19 and prior to my graduation early this year, I struggled with survival while taking care of my younger brother who had come to live with me from the village alongside two other friends of mine. During that period, I came up with an idea of starting up a project of making detergents named Divine Detergents Uganda Ltd.
My project has been on producing multipurpose liquid soap and dog shampoo. It has not been so easy being a startup but I kept persisting and keeping on the hustle by looking for clients 24/7 and selling to them my idea and the products. This was also made a little easier since I had some social media knowledge. I, therefore, had to utilize this opportunity and market my products through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. With the knowledge of my nature of the disability, I have accepted who I am on media and I have reached the extent of creating a hashtag on Twitter “Disability isn’t inability.”
My message to fellow brothers and sisters with disabilities is not to under look at yourself or pity yourself. Decide in life and break the barriers because everything is possible. Disability is not inability. Knowing that you are not defined by your disability makes you do the impossible. Don’t allow your disability to limit you. Know that your ability is stronger and mightier than your disability.
Find Bugembe on Twitter and support his hustle https://twitter.com/BugembeNelson
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