Skip to main content

Part 6: When the World Refused to See Her

Naomi’s journey in school broke something inside me as a father.

When we put Naomi in that school, we explained everything to them. We told them her condition. Naomi has Coloboma, Strabismus and Nystagmus. Her sight is poor. She cannot see clearly from far. To read, she has to move closer to the board or bring books very close to her face. They said it was noted and promised they would support her. We trusted them. We believed our child was safe there. But they didn’t really understand what Coloboma meant. I showed them what I had read online and explained simple things they could do to help her in class.

Most average schools in Nigeria don’t even have internet access. Only expensive schools have tablets and online learning. So there was no real effort to learn about her condition or adjust the classroom for her. But for two months, my daughter was hurting and we didn’t know. Her teacher was beating and scolding her because she could not read what was written on the board. Naomi is slow to answer when something is written far away. She has to squint, try to focus both eyes, and move closer before she can even recognize the letters. That is the only way she can answer correctly.

She never told us. She was scared we would change her school again. We had already moved her many times. Every time it was the same thing. Teachers didn’t understand her. Children laughed at her. In class she would stand up and walk closer to the board so she could read. During group reading she held the book close to her face. Instead of patience, she got anger. The teacher would shout at her and ask if she was blind. Those words broke her. She became quiet. She stopped talking much. She started carrying her pain alone.


We noticed she was struggling and got a lesson teacher for her at home three times a week. At home she was different. She smiled. She asked questions. She was relaxed. She was our Naomi again. Then one morning everything came out. My wife was taking Naomi and her sister to school. Naomi looked afraid. My wife asked what was wrong. She kept quiet and looked down. After my wife kept asking gently, Naomi said, “Mummy, if I tell you, please don’t ask her. She said if I tell you she will beat me.” My wife froze. Naomi finally said the teacher had been beating her anytime she couldn’t see the board.

My wife called me immediately. I was at work. I can still remember that moment. Everything inside me went cold. I felt anger, pain and helplessness at the same time. My little girl had been going through this alone and was too scared to even cry. That day my wife went straight to the principal’s office and reported the teacher. She cried while explaining.

Even in class Naomi had no friends. She couldn’t run like other kids. When she held a book close to her eyes, other children moved away from her. Slowly she was becoming lonely.

Living in Nigeria made everything harder. There is little understanding for children with low vision in normal schools. Many teachers are not trained to support a child like Naomi. If a child does not learn the same way as others, the response is punishment, not help. We were even advised to take her to a school for the blind. That day hurt me deeply. Naomi is not blind. She only sees differently. She can read, learn and understand, but she needs to sit close, use bigger print and be given time. Instead, the system pushes children like her away. Most private schools focus only on results and rankings. They have no plan to include children with conditions like hers. Coloboma is not something unheard of, yet there is almost no support structure in place. Hearing people suggest a blind school felt like they had already decided her future without even trying to help her.

As a father I felt pain and frustration. I was not asking for special treatment. I only wanted patience, understanding and dignity for my child. That day I made a decision. I would not let my daughter grow up like this. I started planning how to leave Nigeria. I began applying to study abroad in the UK, the US and Australia. I wanted somewhere my child would be understood. Somewhere people would see her ability, not her eyes. Naomi is everything to me. All I want is a life where she is safe, respected and not afraid to go to school.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our New Beginning: Naomi’s Story pt1

On March 11, 2015, my wife Treasure and I welcomed our first child, Naomi, in Lagos, Nigeria. Holding her in my arms was one of the happiest moments of my life. She was strong, beautiful, and full of promise. Her name, Naomi, was chosen with purpose. To us, it means delight and blessing. She was the beginning of our family’s story, and from the start she showed a strength that continues to inspire us. Her birth was not as we expected. She weighed over 5kg, and complications meant the doctors had to assist with delivery. In the process, her shoulder was dislocated. We did not know immediately. After 48 hours we noticed something was wrong and asked the doctors. That was where her first journey of pain began. At just four days old, Naomi’s tiny shoulder was put in a cast by a child orthopedist. Every visit was painful to watch. My wife and I cried many times, and some days I could not bear to take her back because I did not want to see her cry again. Still, we pushed forward. Even in ...
1 comment
Read more

Naomi’s Story, Part 2: When We Learned About Her Eye

After the struggle with Naomi’s shoulder at birth, life slowly settled. As new parents, we were learning step by step, enjoying every moment with our beautiful first child. We thought the hardest part was behind us. But as time passed, we began to notice something different about her eyes. At first, we told ourselves it was nothing serious, something that would improve as she grew. When Naomi turned one, during a hospital visit, the doctor examined her and said it was a “lazy eye” that would correct itself. We felt some relief then. The first optician we met even recommended glasses. We held on to that hope, believing that once she wore them, everything would be fine. But the glasses never worked. We tried again and again to book appointments at the general hospital. Long queues, lack of specialists, and the weight of life in Lagos as a young couple made it all so overwhelming. Still, we carried on, hoping for change. By the time Naomi turned two, our worries grew heavy. She still coul...
1 comment
Read more

Naomi’s Story, Part 5: Awareness or Support?

  In 2016 and 2017, I started searching for awareness and support within Nigeria. I called hospitals, sent emails, and searched social media for anything related to Coloboma. Every response I got was silence. No group. No foundation. No awareness campaign. It felt like the condition did not exist in our country. I remember walking into one of the major eye centres in Lagos, hoping to meet other parents like me. The doctors told me they had seen children with Coloboma before, but no one had ever formed a support group or association. There was no record, no follow-up, no awareness. It broke me. In the UK and US, families were coming together, learning from one another, and supporting their children. In Nigeria, parents were isolated, each carrying their burden in silence. That gap became my mission. I decided I would not let Naomi’s story end in silence. If awareness did not exist, we would start it. We continued visiting hospitals for second and third opinions. Most doctors said th...
1 comment
Read more