Euphrasia Mbewe

L-R (Kabui Mpolokoso, Frank Mbewe, Tony Mpolokoso, Euphrasia Mbewe)

During my recent visit to Zambia I was thrilled to meet up again with Euphrasia Mbewe who was a few years behind me at Roma Girls School in the mid 1980's. Euphrasia was one of the first few deaf girls who joined Roma, along with Kapansa Kamukwamba who was in my year. It was not easy for the deaf students to fully participate in their lessons at school in the absence of dedicated learning assistants, note takers or translators to assist them in class. Despite all this it was clear that Euphrasia was an intellingent young lady who has since gone on to build a successful career for herself, currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Global Partnership for Disability and Development (GPDD). Euphrasia's story is inspirational not just to people with disabilities, but to all young girls and women facing discrimination at school or in the work place. Euphrasia is married to Frank who is also hard of hearing and the couple have four(?) children. Frank who has a hearing aid translates for Euphrasia using sign language and to see the couple communicating with each other is truly wonderful!

As we sat in the garden recalling our days at Roma, Euphrasia mentioned how lucky she was to have been at Roma and was full of praise for what the school had done for her. She mentioned the kindness of the girls who looked after the girls with disabilities - her best and still good friend (whose name I forget...sorry) who took notes for her in every lesson, Laura Miti - who cheerfully huffed and puffed as she pushed Grace Bwembya in her wheelchair up that steep climb from the dormitories to the classroom blocks! I had forgotten all these events but as Euphrasia narrated the stories, I realised what a wonderful place Roma Girls was and still is I hope. We were drawn from different backgrounds - but that did not matter at Roma.