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A landmine injury is not stopping Munyambabazi from pursuing his dreams
What you need to know:
Resilient. Alex Munyambabazi, 37, sustained injuries on both his legs from a landmine blast that occurred during a field operation on June 29, 2005. At the time, he had been deployed in the army to fight the rebels that had caused havoc in the northern part of Uganda. In order to save his life, his right leg was amputated while the left one was reconstructed in surgery. Despite these life setbacks, Munyambabazi has not let disability to define him. He continues pursuing his dreams, Esther Oluka writes.
One day during the 1990s, as Alex Munyambabazi wade through a newspaper, he came across pictures of victims of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels’ attrocities.
The rebels had gruesomely cut off their ears, mouth, noses and other body parts.
He was almost drawn to tears. What kind of heartless people do these things to other human beings? He thought.
It’s not surprising that when he heard a radio announcement in 2001, calling those interested in joining the army to register, he did not hesitate.
“I was tired of seeing those brutal pictures in newspapers. I wanted to proudly serve my country by fighting those rebels,” he says.
At the time (2001), Munyambabazi was supposed to be in Senior Six. However, he had in the previous year faced a tuition issue while studying Senior Five at St Mary’s College Rushoroza, Kabale District.
“Studies were going on well, but, the challenge I was facing was lack of tuition. Imagine I had studied first and second term without paying school fees, and, by the time it got to third term, the school administration was on my case to clear the pending amounts of money,” he says, adding, “So, I was constantly on tension by third term.”
The fees issues eventually made Munyambabazi drop out of school after completing Senior Five and he joined the army.
Left to Right: Alex Munyambabazi with other amputees. On the right, Munyambabazi walking at the 2019 Malengo Foundation Fashion Show organised for persons with disability. PHOTOS BY Esther Oluka, Giulio Molfese.
The deployment
He went to Kakyeka stadium, in Mbarara District where the enlisting was being done. After the registration process, Munyambabazi and the other applicants were then taken to Bihanga Military Training School, in Ibanda District.
“I spent three months there getting basic military training,” he says.
After the training, he and other new recruits (mostly youth) were eventually deployed to the frontline towards the end 2001 in Gulu District, northern Uganda.
The job at hand was fighting rebels. While on the line of duty, one of the most important lessons he learnt was the preciousness of life because as they were fighting rebels, some colleagues were getting killed.
The Ugandan army registered some milestones, for example, a section of these rebels were getting pushed towards the borders of southern Sudan and Central African Republic.
However, there were those that had still stayed behind terrorising northern Uganda and needed flushing out. On June 29, 2005 as Munyambabazi and his team were combing through Kilak hills in Gulu District to fish out any remaining rebels, catastrophe struck.
The landline calamity
Boom!
Munyambabazi stepped on a landmine.
“It was a huge blast with a deafening sound,” he says, adding, “For a moment, I did not know what had exactly happened. I was so confused and even thought I had fallen into a ditch. I tried standing up and failed.”
When Munyambabazi slowly began realising what had happened, the reality finally sunk in that he had stepped on a landmine. He was in great pain.
He noticed that part of his lower right leg was missing and the remaining half was shredded in bits, oozing a lot of blood. Instinct drove him to grab his bloody soldier boot (which was laying nearby) and fix it into around the wound. He tied the boot harder as well as the other surrounding areas. This served as a way of preventing more blood from spilling out of the wound.
Meanwhile, dust mixed with pieces of flesh and blood surrounded him.
Since it was unsafe for helicopters to land in the area, colleagues had to carry the victim to a safer evacuation point. From here, he was then driven to St Mary’s Hospital Lancor, in Gulu District.
At the hospital, his wounds were cleaned. But also, in order to save his life, he had to consent to the agonising decision of having his right leg amputated. The left leg, reconstructive surgery was done.
Today, there are evident scars on both legs that show the extent of the injuries from the landmine explosion.
The recovery process was not an entirely smooth journey. At some point, Munyambabazi felt hopeless. He kept to himself most of the time and contemplated suicide.
Having noticed his depressive tendencies, family members, friends and the hospital staff kept counseling the patient as a way of renewing his hope.
Going back to school
Munyambabazi was at Lancor hospital for two months before getting transferred to Gulu Military Hospital where he spent three months. From there, he was briefly transferred to Bombo General Military Hospital and eventually to Mubende Rehabilitation Centre where he spent two months.
After Mubende, he was referred back to Bombo General Military Hospital and finally to Mbuya Military Referral Hospital.
“It was at Mbuya that I started thinking about going back to school and continuing my studies,” he says.
On why he arrived at such a decision, Munyambabazi says he did not want his disability to define his life.
“I thought to myself that as long as I still had my brain, I could still go ahead to accomplish personal dreams and goals in life,” he says, adding, “And, it did not matter that I only had one leg.”
Also, he wanted to prove to himself that regardless of the tragedy, he could still come out strong. Furthermore, since he was considering the idea of having a family one day, it was important that he adds value to himself by going back to school because he knew he would need qualifications if he was to be considered for a possible job opportunity.
“The job would enable me get a salary, money, I would use to put food on the table,” he says.
So while in Mbuya Military Referral Hospital where he was still recovering from his injuries, he registered as a student at Uphill College, Mbuya. However, Munyambabazi requested the school administration for permission to study outside the classroom because he was not in the best position to attend classes.
“They allowed me to conduct self-taught sessions. I did this by buying text books for agriculture, biology, chemistry, geography and began reading them alone. I did this for about eight months,” he says.
Some people thought he was running mad by subjecting himself through all this hustle. But, Munyambabazi was determined to attain his education. He sat for his final Senior Six examinations at the school, and got two principle passes. The notable achievement was proof enough that anything is possible if you set your mind towards achieving it.
Career path after Senior Six
After completing Senior Six, Munyambabazi enrolled at Kampala Paramedix Institute, in Bukoto for a diploma in medical laboratory technology. He completed the course in 2010.
After 2010, he took his diploma qualifications to Bombo General Military Hospital after hearing about a job opening. He was subjected to an interview before eventually being posted to Military Health Headquarters.
“They have a health facility in Makindye where I was employed as a medical laboratory technologist,” he says.
He still works here today.
In 2014, he applied to join Mbarara University for a two year degree in medical laboratory science. He was admitted to the university after passing entry interviews.
“I completed the program in 2016 and graduated in January 2017,” he says.
The upgrading has not stopped here. Munyambabazi plans on going back for a Masters in Medical Micro-biology and immunology at Makerere University. But, in case a scholarship opportunity presents itself early to study medicine at a recognised higher institute, he will then first consider this chance.
Why he loves wearing shorts
Back in 2012, Munyambabazi interacted with a girl, then 15 years of age who was suffering from bone cancer. The girl was scheduled to have an amputation but then, was very afraid. In fact, she had concluded that she would rather die than have her one of her legs cut off.
“I shared my personal story with her including personal achievements attained despite my condition,” she says.
A few days later, the girl’s parents called and informed Munyambabazi that the girl had agreed to the amputation partly after being inspired by his personal story. Her life was saved.
“Instantly, I thought that if I was able to make a change in one person’s life, I could then make a difference in many more lives,” he says, adding, “I had been struggling to accept the new me, but then, that girl opened my eyes. I slowly began accepting my new identity and embraced shorts as my style. I now wanted people to see me for who I really was. So, I got rid of the trousers.”
So whether Munyambabazi is going to town or an event, he prefers to wear his shorts. The prosthetic leg he wears was purchased from Sweden with money gathered through contributions from family members, friends and well-wishers.
He obviously does attract a number of stares from curious onlookers whenever he wears his shorts.
“But I don’t care. Besides, dressing this way saves me a lot of times. For example, motorists are very lenient whenever I am crossing the road. Wearing a prosthetic leg slows my walk. So, imagine I was wearing trousers and I am crossing the road. A motorist can easily just knock you down because they don’t know about your disability,” he says.
He has also inspired some amputees to dress in a similar fashion which has also eased life for them.
Life today
Munyambabazi is a father of two children aged 13 and 7 years. In his past time, he enjoys playing football, boxing and modelling. In fact, last year, he was one of the models enlisted to walk in the Malengo Hot Pink Fashion show organised for persons living with disability. Lately, he also conducts inspiring talks in hospitals and communities motivating other amputees to not let disability define them.
Starting a foundation to help amputees
Munyambabazi is a co-founder of the Amputee Self Help Network Uganda (ASNU) that aims at offering all necessary psychosocial support, empowerment and advocacy for people dealing with amputations.
