Ten years ago happy-go-lucky Karen Nakawala was settling into new motherhood and enjoying life when she woke up one day feeling like she had water in her ear; within a month she was almost completely deaf.

It seems hard to believe that someone whose whole life is about communicating – as a radio presenter, MC for Zambia Fashion Week and the Ngoma Awards, and marketing and communications manager – can hear nothing without her hearing aids, but Karen is undaunted by the challenges.

Indeed it has made her appreciate the positive things in life, and she recounts her favorite quote, given to her by a doctor when she was at her lowest ebb: “Every today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.” Karen is not the sort of person to spend time dwelling on her problems, and a joke or a chuckle is never far away. “I want to be the first female president of this country – I would get all the votes!” she laughs, when asked about her future plans. She may be serious, but with Karen it’s difficult to tell. Either way, she’s keen to see Zambia have 30 percent female representation in Parliament and a lot more women in positions of power.

Karen was born in Maamba, Southern Province. Her mother is a special education teacher and her father spent many years as a miner before retiring and becoming District Commissioner in Malambo, Chipata. She is her mother’s first born and has a sister and three brothers, along with numerous half-brothers and sisters. Her schooling took her to Kabwe, Luanshya and finally Njase Girls’ School in Choma where she completed in 1989.

She joined Maamba Collieries as an administrative clerk straight out of school but then opted to pursue travel and tourism, working in a travel agency in Chipata then moving to Livingstone and also studying the subject.

She then married – she is now divorced – and her daughter was born in 1996. It was then that Karen’s world turned upside-down.

For such an out-going, bubbly woman, the loss of her hearing was devastating. “The saddest thing was that when my little baby was crying I couldn’t hear her,” recalls Karen. For two years she visited doctors who could not figure out what was wrong; they pumped her ears thinking it was just a build-up of wax, but that made it worse, and then in desperation she headed for South Africa for long-term treatment. The accompanying resident’s permit for her treatment also enabled her to work as a public relations officer in a safari resort and casino operation.

In all she was in South Africa for five years, but still homesick, so when a work colleague told her about a new bowling alley he was setting up in Lusaka she leapt at the chance to return as marketing and public relations manager, first for Let’s Go Bowling, then Arcades shopping mall. Seven months ago she joined CFAO motor dealers, and is marketing and communications manager, as well as having a regular Sunday shift as a presenter with Radio Phoenix.

DEPRESSED
Recalling her early years of deafness, she says: “I stopped work for a while because I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying. I was depressed and I took a long time to come out of it. I was just cut off from everything. I avoided crowds and I avoided people coming to visit because they had to shout for me to hear.” Ironically, in the same year that Karen lost her hearing, her mother took a course on special needs, so she was able to help and understand the problem, having had first hand experience of children who had been deaf since birth.

The doctors in South Africa diagnosed her problem as a rare ear infection that she had probably had since childhood, but that had been drawn out of dormancy as her immunity was lowered during her pregnancy. When they checked her eardrums they had literally been “eaten away”, so they inserted grommets - tubes to drain the ear, and suddenly she could hear again.

“It was so noisy all of a sudden; I couldn’t stand it and for two days I had to go to work with ear muffs,” she recalls.

Three months after the grommets were inserted she was attacked in the street on a rainy day in Johannesburg and hit in the ear with the butt of a gun, which forced the grommet further into her ear. She passed out and came to in hospital. The rain water had also got into her ears, causing complications, and she had the first of a number of operations. After the fourth operation doctors told her she had a 10 percent chance of getting her hearing back.

LIFE-CHANGING
In 1999 she lost her taste, and after a few years of her deafness she also began experiencing severe ear-ache, which forced her jaws to lock up. Infections recurred because of the grommets, and eventually she was given hearing aids – one at first, but that unbalanced her. She now wears one in each ear, and it gives her “more than 100 percent” hearing.

The experience has changed her life.

“Before, whatever I was doing was not for a reason. I just did something because I wanted to do it. Now I think whatever I do is beneficial and I have to get something out, and I’m more focused. I appreciate every day.” She’s also using her experience to help others. “It’s amazing how many people I can reach out to. I tell people that if I take out my hearing aids I won’t be able to hear a thing; I won’t be able to do anything. People come to me with their deaf children and they want to talk to me about how they should deal with it.” “In a way I think I’m glad it happened. I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing if it hadn’t.” Karen was always interested in drama, singing and dancing when she was at school, and believes she gets her theatrical talents from her mother, of whom she says she’s “the mirror image”. Her natural exuberance can be deceptive, however. “Often people think I don’t get upset. I have a very, very bad temper when I’m driven down that road, but it takes a long time for me to react; I bottle things up and I don’t talk about them. “I do have my bad moments, but when I’m feeling low people don’t notice.” If she’s very hurt she has been known to simply take off her hearing aids, but the moment generally passes fast, she laughs. “I cool down very easily because I don’t get upset often,” she says. And she’s philosophical about the jealousy and back-biting which seems to be par for the course in her line of work, dismissing it as “an occupational hazard” and drawing on the strength of her family for support.

Despite her talents Karen has no intention of leaving Zambia, but she has a firm list of things she plans to do here. She wants to learn sign language and get more involved with associations to help the deaf. She recently attended a workshop for the National Olympics Committee and is keen to help promote sport for the disabled.

“I want to be able to work with people in my situation and see how best we can inspire the lives of those who can’t get help. For me my hearing loss was a second lease of life and if I didn’t get out of the situation I would probably be dead by now. I want to be able to help, because it is not a completely helpless situation.”


Gillian Baker is a professional journalist who has been working in the finance and banking sector, and is the editor of Development Zambia and Beauty Zambia.