Odongo Joel Joseph, a year two student of Bachelor of social work at Makerere University is a dance fanatic despite deafness.
Odong who lost his hearing senses to a slap by a teacher in his primary school wants to see people happy and for that he is committed to entertaining them through dance.
Before any stage performance, he consults his friends who guide him and get the perfect beat to which he will dance to. Despite the worry of having to perfectly follow the beat, Odongo does it quite well and his friends always attest to that.
Having become deaf in Primary and spending a lot of time home prior rejoining school, Odongo picked interest in the late Michael Jackson’s dance strokes which he began to imitate and later developed a passion for dance.
Odongo who serves as a deputy secretary at his school looks forward to becoming a GRC next semester and later a Member of Parliament.
He says being a leader, he finds a hard time serving his electorates as they approach him for help because of his brilliance with some thinking he actually isn’t deaf making him labour to explain his cause.
There are always cases of stigma among disabled students and the case isn’t any different with Odongo Joel. He says he has had to fight stigma since childhood – remembering an ugly scene when his classmates ran out of class having been told by a teacher that he is deaf.
Despite all that, Odongo’s determination and zeal remain unmatched and he has usually set the precedence and a perfect example for others to embrace.
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