He overcame stigma as a deaf man to earn a living

Komakech carries a passenger on his motorcycle in Gulu Town recently. Below is Komakech serving clients at his grinding mill. PHOTOs BY John Okot.

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Earning: Though born a normal child and later becoming deaf, Denish Komakech earns far better than many people without disability. He shared his story with Saturday Monitor’s John Okot.

A fleet of vehicles from both the left and right are no longer a threat to him as he beckons any passersby whom he thinks could be his potential passenger. Denish Komakech, 35, a deaf resident of Oguru village in Bardege Division in Gulu Municipality, has beaten all odds to survive in the competitive venture of boda boda riding, where hearing and speaking play crucial roles in interacting and bargaining fares.

Despite being impaired in verbal communication, Komakech’s warmth and friendliness is portrayed through his body language, a virtue that many say has won the hearts of his customers. With the help of a sign interpreter, Saturday Monitor got his life story that depicts a young man who persistently struggled to make ends meet despite growing up in a poor family.

Early life
According to his mother, Christine Apio, Komakech was born normal and remained so until the age of two when he suffered from severe measles, a disease that affected his hearing ability. “When I realised this, I tried to seek medical attention at the hospital until I gave up since my efforts were not yielding much,” Apio reminisces. She, however, managed to take him to one of the primary schools within the community, but the teachers found it hard to teach him, since he could not hear neither talk. Time came and he could not continue with his education. This meant Komakech’s dream of becoming a mechanical engineer was no more.

Coming from a polygamous family, his father, a peasant farmer, could barely provide most of the basic needs at home. “My father had two wives and 13 children. This made it hard for him to take care of all of us,” Komakech says. This drove him to look for alternative means of helping his ageing parents and siblings. He engaged in small-scale farming, but the returns were not pleasing. His friends later connected him to work at one of the Soda depots in Gulu Town as a casual laborer.

Komakech, a father of two, says he worked at the deport for 10 years until he decided to quit in 2014 due to the heavy workload which he says made him sustain several injuries. He adds that he would earn peanuts as compared to his counterparts, who often took advantage of his speech impairment to cheat him during payment time. He says they were often paid Shs50,000 per truck offloaded but he would only be paid between Shs10,000-15,000 only after off-loading three to five trucks a day. “I was forced to leave after realising the dirty tricks my friends were playing on,” he says.

Boda boda business
At the time he quit the depot business, Komaketch had saved upto Shs2.5 million. This is the money he used to purchase his first motorcycle. He rode it for one year before giving it to his elder brother after buying two others using a bank loan.

Komaketch says when he gets a potential customer, he asks them to either jot down their destination on a piece of paper or they direct him as they move along. He adds that he ensures he follows road safety rules by making good use of his side mirrors since he cannot hear sounds of the hooting vehicles.
“Without the side mirrors, I cannot ride because it would be difficult for me to know if a vehicle is approaching behind me,” he says.

Achievements
Komakech’s second motorcycle is hired for Shs50,000 per week. He has been able to buy a grinding mill worth Shs4m, which is currently managed by his younger brother in Ajulu village in Patiko Sub-county.
From his grinding mill, Komakech says he earns between Shs150,000 to Shs300,000 per week. He pays school fees for all his siblings, besides taking care of his wife and children in town and his parents in the village, and has some building projects.

Challenges
Komakech says at times his passengers deliberately refuse to pay him because they know he cannot bargain with them. He adds that some people shun his services after realising that he is deaf. “Because of my disability, some people think I may cause accidents,” he says.
Komakech also says some traffic officers charge him unfair fines whenever he is arrested for any traffic offence.

Future plans
Mr Komakech wants to buy a plot of land in Gulu Town where he hopes to construct a permanent house for his family and others for rent. He also plans to expand his grinding mill since the number of clients is increasing compared to the machine capacity.

His advice
Advise to the disabled: Komaketch advises unemployed disabled people to change their negative mentality towards competing with others in any business. “Look at me, I am proud of myself and I can tell people with my condition that they can do anything just like any other person, we all equal before God,” he says.