{"id":22391,"date":"2022-06-15T14:43:06","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T14:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/deaf-student-overcomes-all-odds-to-graduate"},"modified":"2022-06-15T14:52:32","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T14:52:32","slug":"deaf-student-overcomes-all-odds-to-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/deaf-student-overcomes-all-odds-to-graduate","title":{"rendered":"Deaf student overcomes all odds to graduate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Naapopye Uulenga, a deaf student under the Faculty of Education and Human Sciences, recently obtained his Bachelor\u2019s of Education, showing that determination can overcome any obstacle.<\/p>\n

During an interview with Unam Forum Online, Uulenga shared his journey to graduation, and stated that having been abandoned by his father at birth has altered his life and has led him to the pursuit of bettering his future.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father came to the hospital when I was born and upon finding out that I was deaf, he abandoned my mother and I. Growing up, I was saddened by this because I didn\u2019t see my father for years, and there were tough times when I really needed him,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Uulenga said he was lucky enough to have a strong mother who loved him and wanted the best for him. His mother eventually took him to a special school that afforded him basic communication skills as a child.<\/p>\n

He, thereafter, attended the National Institute of Special Education, a school for visually- and hearing-impaired learners from 1999-2013, which he said made his life easier because all the teachers knew sign language.<\/p>\n

Uulenga later transferred to an inclusive school, Cosmos High School, where he completed his grades 11 and 12 with the assistance of two interpreters. However, this advantage had its own challenges, as the interpreters would not be in a position to present classes on some days.<\/p>\n

Life after high school<\/b><\/p>\n

Uulenga first dreamt of becoming an engineer, but having obtained only 22 points in grade 12, he could not be admitted for that course. \u201cHowever, I was too determined to further my studies to let that stop me. I then opted for education because I wanted to be a good example to other deaf kids growing up \u2013 that they too can have a better future,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

According to him, university life was tough. During his third year, he found research very challenging due to the unavailability of interpreters. This, coupled with debts \u2013 as his NSFAF loan was put on hold \u2013 led him to de-register for two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I was close to the finishing line, so I returned to Unam in 2020. I now have finally obtained my honours degree,\u201d said a jubilant Uulenga.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very happy, and I am thankful to God for giving me the strength to complete my studies.\u201d He also stated that he has made his mother very proud, and that he hopes to one day repay her for her love and support.<\/p>\n

Uulenga is inspired by persons with disabilities who still manage to change the world and inspire others like him. This, he said, includes a deaf-blind woman, Helen Keller, and a deaf man, Dr. Andrew Jackson Foster, whose pioneering contribution to deaf education in Africa motivated him to seek inner confidence and to be persistent in life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m optimistic about the future, and I hope I end up teaching as well as inspiring hearing-impaired children that they too can do anything and achieve any level of success that they dream of.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. Naapopye Uulenga, a deaf student under the Faculty of Education and Human Sciences, recently obtained his Bachelor\u2019s of Education, showing that determination can overcome any obstacle. During an interview with Unam Forum Online, Uulenga shared his journey to graduation, and stated that having been abandoned by his father at birth has altered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":22390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,8,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-22391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nDeaf student overcomes all odds to graduate - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Naapopye Uulenga, a deaf student under the Faculty of Education and Human Sciences, recently obtained his Bachelor\u2019s of ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/deaf-student-overcomes-all-odds-to-graduate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Deaf student overcomes all odds to graduate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Naapopye Uulenga, a deaf student under the Faculty of Education and Human Sciences, recently obtained his Bachelor\u2019s of ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/deaf-student-overcomes-all-odds-to-graduate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-15T14:43:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-15T14:52:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/06\/postQueueImg_11-62a9f21b14285.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/deaf-student-overcomes-all-odds-to-graduate#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/deaf-student-overcomes-all-odds-to-graduate\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Deaf student overcomes all odds to graduate\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-15T14:43:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-15T14:52:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/deaf-student-overcomes-all-odds-to-graduate\"},\"wordCount\":523,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/deaf-student-overcomes-all-odds-to-graduate#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/06\/postQueueImg_11-62a9f21b14285.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"culture and art\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/deaf-student-overcomes-all-odds-to-graduate#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/deaf-student-overcomes-all-odds-to-graduate\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/deaf-student-overcomes-all-odds-to-graduate\",\"name\":\"Deaf student overcomes all odds to graduate - 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