Why I am Raising Funds to Support Persons Living with Spinal Injuries in Kampala and Wakiso By Brenda Areto Okotkotber

My name is Brenda Areto Okotkotber and I live with a spinal cord injury. While doing my studies in Information Technology at Makerere University, I had an accident on the morning of February 17, 2010. I was riding on a boda boda motorcycle when two drunken drivers were racing and one of them rammed into us from the back. I was seated on the back of the boda boda and I got a bigger effect of the trauma. My spinal cord was crashed from the levels of T4, T5, and T6. As a result, I became paraplegic - paralysed from the chest downwards. 

 I spent three months in Mulago Hospital and when I was discharged, I had no home to go to.  Members of Kampala Baptist Church and members of the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) supported. The SIA also gave me hope through their advocacy and training. They taught me how to believe in myself again and learn to love life afresh and to move around in a wheelchair.  

 Over the years, I have developed strategies to look out for less fortunate persons with spinal injuries. I started a social media campaign named BreWheels where I fundraise for wheelchairs to give newly injured patients and those whose wheelchairs have worn out. In my first Facebook campaign in 2015 I donated one wheelchair to a patient in the Spinal Ward at the Mulago National Referral Hospital. The number doubled to two in 2017 and to four wheelchairs in 2018.

Two months ago, I designed a new campaign to help other people living with spinal injuries in Kampala and Wakiso districts with other SIA Board members. The COVID-19 pandemic has made many people vulnerable and it is worse with those living with spinal injuries. Many of them live with a lot of secondary disabilities, some of which are fatal, for example, untreated bedsores can lead to death from related complications.  Treating these complications takes money and many sufferers cannot afford the required treatment. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown in the country has driven more spinal injury sufferers into further poverty and they cannot afford to buy food and medical accessories. I want to reach out a hand to them during this time and can only do it with your help.

My goal is to raise 10,000,000 shillings on the Dolphin Fund Platform. At the time of writing, the campaign has so far raised 319,000 shillings and I am positive that I will reach my goal and bring a smile to those less fortunate than me.

Bio: Brenda Areto Okotkotber lives in Kampala with her 15-year-old son. She made African themed scarves and jewellery for eight years and is now teaching herself programming. She is also working on registering an organization to continue fundraising for people living with spinal injuries. Follow her on twitter @Brendaokotkotbe