“I believe blindness is not challenging me from anything in the whole world”

Today’s guest’s name is Ghidey Hinsa, an inspirational person whom besides his incapability of sight still manages to do what ordinary people could do… if not more!!!

-How about you start by telling our readers about some experience of your past that you wouldn’t ever forget?

Wow… I remember when I was eight and I was in the school for the blind, I dearly missed home and my parents were all I was thinking all year long. So one day I decided to sneak out from the school dorm and go back to my home town. It was terrible; I am blind and top of that it was dark so no one was around to help me out, so I just wondered around and fell so many times. At the end a man found me and he felt bad for me, I begged him to take me home and he promised he would but next I knew… I was back to my school. I don’t think I will ever forget that day in which I felt bad for myself, felt so helpless.

-Did you at least see your parents?

Yeah I did, thanks to my teachers.

-Am glad. Should we now introduce you to our readers?

Yes please. My name is Ghidey Hinsa, I was born 1984 in the Zoba Debub in a small town called Berakit. I was always a good student ever since the beginning given to my conditions I had to prove to myself that I wasn’t any different from the other kids. I then went to Sawa and got really good grades so I got in college and there I studied History and I graduated with a degree and at this moment I am working as teacher in the Red Sea High School here in Asmara.

-Were you born blind?

No, I was seven when I lost my sight…. And then my grandfather who was living in Asmara brought me here and registered me in the school for the blind. At the beginning I was a partial sighted but then all the stress I had because of the loss of my sight and for the fact that I was away from home, brought me to a total blindness.

-Were you stressed at school?

Yeah, at the very beginning, I felt alone but then in time I felt the love of all the brothers and sisters I met at the school, those people had the same problem like mine so we shared some inexplicable connection. It was so beautiful actually, we helped each other in so many ways and we were really interested at school, we were good students. I loved the place.

-I imagine you didn’t like living the place either?

Definitely not, it was my home. As it was home for many more people… in fact at first I felt like I was going to be a “lost soul outside” of school. It was a small family but it was really cozy and worm.

-Did you really end up being “a lost soul” in high school?

Not really, even though I was the only blind in my class, I kept my grades high and I started having more friends than ever… no need to repeat it, as everyone seems to agree on this fact: but Eritrean youth is really friendly. It is all about the joy and laughter. High school was really fun; full of love…

-How about college, was it as fun as high school?

Yes, but not the mad craziness we had when we were teenagers. We were a bit more mature so we still had the fun going on but at the same time we were also working hard on paving the way in establishing a bright future in our lives, so we were basically aged in studying.

-Tell us about your graduation.

No words! Really it was such a big feeling but more than that my neighbors in Tsetserat gather up and made me a big party. It was beautiful. And most importantly I was delighted for the fact that I achieved something concrete asides all the things that I went through.

-Ok, back to school… why did you decide to major in history?

It has always been and still is my personal favorite subject. Historical event whether they are national or international they give me great pleasure in knowing them and study them.

-You are actually working as a teacher, how does it feel?

It’s honestly and truly amazing! I love my job because I love spending time with teenagers. I teach in a high school and discussing things with them makes me always open my eyes to innovations, you know young people are really good in bringing up new matters. I know that my students are one day going to have a lot of meaningful attributes to the development of our country. Whenever I am with them I feel as if I am refreshing my mind… and top of everything I am a history teacher so I totally love the whole vibe.

-Has your disability ever accrued you?

I can’t deny the times I was crushed back when I was a kid. But as a grown up I would definitely say no. I believe blindness is not challenging me from anything in the whole world, I am a happy person am happy to be me, so no!

-Good. Before we end today’s interview do you have anything you want to say?

Yeah. I would like to deeply thank all of my students, and all the people: friends and family that supported me through out everything! And thanks for having me do this interview.