Blind Cameroonian Beats Obstacles To Become Journalist

Blind Cameroonian, Jean-Pascal Somb Lingom has overcome all obstacles to become a journalist.

He lost his eyesight in 1988 after suffering from measles at the age of eight.

Lingom said it was difficult at first to accept his condition but eventually he became determined to focus on his abilities instead of his limitations.

Lingom is now one of a few blind journalists in the country, filing news stories and current affairs segments for state broadcaster, CRTV or Cameroon Radio Television.

“When you are doing journalism it gives you the possibility to show to people what you can do and many people will judge you through or because of your work. So having in mind the rights of persons with disabilities I thought it was better for me to practice journalism,” he said.

The radio journalist goes out on assignments with colleagues and uses a braille slate to write his stories.

There are about 150,000 blind people in the country according to the Cameroon Society of Ophthalmology, but most lack opportunities to further their careers.

Disabled people often get ignored and face stigma, while parents hardly invest in educating their children, which denies them a chance to find jobs in future, forcing many to turn to the streets, ending up as beggars.

Lingom says he wants to see more physically challenged people engage in meaningful economic activities and working to ensure that disability does not get in the way of their dreams.

People with disability also often lack access to proper training facilities and equipment to help them work efficiently.

“The first is that sometimes when you have to go on coverage and that you are visually impaired, the event might be taking place in a very remote area and you have to go through the bad roads, you jump up and down but well that one I have become used to it. The second thing is that we need editing, when you finish your work you have to sit down and edit and for the moment the software that may help visually impaired easily edit out their feed or their papers we don’t have them in CRTV,” Lingom said.

The 37-year-old is also working to push for the rights of people living with disability and highlighted issues affecting them through a non-governmental organization that he heads.

Manka Ambe works with Lingom at CRTV.

“Most of the time when I write my reports I get him listening to those reports before they go on air. Apart from the fact that Somb is a journalist; Somb is a translator and you know that we work in the centre region precisely in Yaoundé were most of the speeches, and most of the things that we do are in French. And so most of the times when am faced with those challenges of getting my text translated he is always there for me,” Ambe said.

Lingom is now calling for more inclusive education programs for disabled people and wants government agencies to do more to tackle stigma and discrimination in Cameroon.

source:
channelstv