By Masauso Mkwayaya.
At just 25 years old, Chewe Mukuka has already fought a battle many people cannot imagine.
She became blind in her first year at the University of Zambia and had to relearn everything she once knew, including how to manage her monthly menstrual cycles in her new state.
Today, she is preparing to graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Media and Journalism at a ceremony scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, May 22, 2026, at the Great East Road Campus.
But her journey to this moment has been anything but easy.
Chewe was born with her sight intact in 2001,on March 23, the first child and only girl in a family of three.
Like many young girls, she had dreams.
She wanted to become a news caster, to sit behind a microphone or camera and tell stories to the nation.
She attended a private school in Ndola on the Copperbelt, where her future looked bright.
In Grade Nine, everything slowly began to change.
At first, she struggled to see things from a distance.
Classroom notes became blurry, reading printed text became painful and frustrating, and as her eyesight deteriorated, she had to leave her school and move to another institution that used larger print materials.
By Grade Twelve, she had started wearing spectacles, hoping they would help her hold on to her vision.
But deep down, the darkness was growing.
When she entered her first year at the University of Zambia in 2012, doctors recommended an operation after she developed cataracts.
She underwent surgery at a public health facility on the Copperbelt, but unfortunately, the procedure was unsuccessful.
Then came the devastating moment that changed her life forever.Chewe completely lost her sight.
For many people, that would have been the end of the dream.
But for Chewe, it became the beginning of a different kind of fight.
Her mother temporarily stopped going for work so she could help her daughter adjust to life without sight.
Suddenly, simple tasks became frightening challenges.
Chewe could not cook, she could not do laundry, and her mother feared she would hurt herself.
The once independent young woman had to relearn life itself.
One of the people who became her pillar during that painful season was her cousin, Florence, the daughter of her mother’s elder sister.
Florence held Chewe’s hand through some of her darkest days and patiently taught her how to become independent again.
Step by step, like a baby learning how to walk, Chewe learned everything from scratch.
She learned how to move around.
How to identify things without seeing them.
How to rebuild her confidence.
But perhaps one of the hardest struggles she rarely speaks about openly was managing her monthly menstrual cycles after losing her sight.
The challenge became so overwhelming at one point that she even considered undergoing a medical procedure to stop her menstruation altogether.
It was a deeply emotional and painful chapter in her life.
Yet Chewe refused to surrender to hopelessness.
Slowly, she adapted.Today, she proudly cooks for herself, does her own laundry, and moves around independently.
She has reclaimed pieces of the life she once feared she had lost forever.
And through it all, she never abandoned her education.
During her internship at the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation TV1 newsroom, Chewe discovered something she had longed for, inclusion.
She describes the environment at ZNBC as supportive and accommodating.
She says colleagues are always willing to help, but most importantly, they allow her to remain independent.
“They do not treat me like a child,” she says with pride.That dignity mattered.That trust mattered.Now, against every obstacle that stood before her, Chewe Mukuka is graduating.
Her story is more than blindness.It is a story about courage after disappointment.About a family that refused to give up.
About learning to live again after losing everything familiar.And above all, it is proof that darkness does not always mean the end of a dream.
Sometimes, it becomes the place where strength is born.
Congratulations, Chewe, on your graduation.