Daniel Musau,41, from Kyawa Village in Matungulu Sub-county, was living an ordinary life until one afternoon when things changed in a matter of seconds.
For three years he had worked as support staff at Sengani Girls High School. Then in March 2019, his world went dark. Literally.
It started with a sip.
He admits before he went blind, he used to consume alcohol.
This is how it started. A school laboratory technician allegedly offered him a bottle of liquor. Don't bother about the school environment.
Musau, trusting his colleague, took the drink. He didn’t know the ‘alcohol’ had been brewed in the school lab.
Within minutes, his vision dimmed. Then it vanished.
"I had worked at the school for three years. In 2019 the lab technician came with a bottle of liquor which he offered me. I did not know that he had manufactured it in the lab and I took it. Soon my vision dimmed before everything went black," Musau recalled during an interview with Justice Gauge at a place just near Tala town.
Desperate, his colleagues rushed him to Kangundo Level 4 Hospital — only to find doctors on strike.
He was later taken to Life Spring Hospital in Nguluni. Doctors there told him the damage was severe. He had a 50/50 chance of recovering his sight. He didn’t.
A specialist optician later confirmed the worst: his optic nerves were permanently damaged. Spectacles would not help. He would have to learn to live in darkness.
The blindness cost him more than his sight. The school administration relieved him of his duties, saying he could no longer perform them. Shortly after, his wife left, taking their three-year-old child with her.
Stigma, struggle and a fight for justice
Life as a blind man in a rural village has not been easy. Musau faces stigma daily. On one occasion, he sued a resident who allegedly mocked him by calling him "the blind man."
Simple tasks are now dangerous. He can no longer plough with an ox-drawn plough — the risk of accident is too high. He depends entirely on family members for support.
He has also tried to seek justice, but hit a wall.
"The School Principal advised me to pursue the matter through the area Chief. But that did not work because I did not record an OB with the Police," he says.
The cruelest irony: he remembers the name of the man who gave him the concoction, but he will never be able to identify him. He is blind.
An appeal for help
Today, Musau survives on the goodwill of relatives and neighbours in Kyawa Village. But he hasn’t given up.
He is appealing to well-wishers, human rights organizations, and legal aid groups to help him in two ways: pursue justice against those responsible, and if possible, get specialized medical care that could restore his sight.
"I just want my life back," he says quietly.
“Or at least a chance to see again.”
