Defying disability to earn a living amusing tourists at Murchison

As one disembarks from a ferry to sail via the Victoria Nile to enter Paraa Safari Lodge in Murchison Falls National Park, you are welcomed by a group of jovial men singing and playing local musical instruments under a tree by the riverside.

Among them is Mr Ashraf Wokurachi, the choir master of a six-man group that sings in Luo. All the six are blind.

The music cajoles many tourists to join them in singing or dancing. Others give them cash and pose for photographs.

Mr Wokurachi says he was born blind and attempted to get education with an ambition of either becoming an engineer or a medical doctor.

“I dropped out of P3 at Pajobe Primary School in Pakwach District because that time the government did not take over the school, and we were asked to pay school fees and contribute some food which I did not have,” Mr Wokurachi says.

His school journey, which he anticipated would lead him to university, started in 2001 when he enrolled in P1.

Despite spending only three years in school, Mr Wokurachi was able to attain a skill of playing cultural musical instruments, which has helped him earn a living and make friends.

“My father, Manuel Tishiano, died when I was 12 years. My mother, Mafalda Alliango, is a peasant farmer who lives in Pachiere village, Panyango Sub-county in Nebbi District,” he says.

On realising the challenges ahead of him, he concentrated on singing and learning local musical instruments. He composes and sings various Luo songs.

The Mubaku Local Community Association, where he is the choir master, however, does not charge fees to tourists who listen and dance to their songs. The tourists instead give them any amount of money of their choice.
Part of the money caters for the essential needs of each of the members while the remaining income is saved.

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“We have Shs400,000 as savings. Our plan is to raise money that can enable us purchase a modern music system and we transform our group into a band,” he says with a smile.

Mr Wokurachi has many challenges but hopes to overcome them through hard work and support from Good Samaritans.

“I have never seen anything in this world because I was born blind,” he regretfully says.

Although he is accommodated and looked after by Mr Jackson Okecha, the chairperson of the association, he wants to build his house, get married and set up a dairy and goat rearing farm.

But he says realising his dreams will not be easy.
He reveals that friends who are part of his musical group got him a girlfriend whom he describes as a caring and lovely woman.

“She is well behaved and appreciates me the way I am. I have also been told that she hails from a disciplined family,” he says, but declines to give the identity of his prospective wife.

He wants to continue improving his musical talent and get professional music training so that he becomes one of Uganda’s top artists.
Mr Oketcha, his caretaker who lives in Mubaku village in Buliisa Sub-county, transports him daily to the park where he plays music all day long.