•MIKE Makuwa with his mother Lonica Nga’ndu.

By CHILA NAMAIKO  –
THE adage that ‘when life throws a lemon at you, make lemonade’ is exactly what Mike Makuwa of Choma’s Tullamore Farms has done after being electrocuted by a live Zesco cable on November 2, 2013.
The farm which is owned by Kurt Jacobsen is located in Sibanyati area about 15 kilometres south of Choma central business district.
Eight-year-old Mike, whose arms were amputated owing to severe burns he sustained is slowly accepting his condition.
Mike was at the time of the accident in Grade one and has since dropped out of school but has aspirations of getting higher education despite his current condition.
He wants to be a doctor to treat patients like he is currently being nursed and has hope of acquiring artificial arms one-day to showcase his skills after realising his doctorate.
“I don’t have arms and hands, I have difficulties to eat, when going to toilet, I ask my mother or brother to undress me, but I know one day I will be fine to do things on my own,” says Mike.
Born in 2007 at Choma General Hospital, Mike is the first born child of Lonica Nga’ndu and has two young brothers namely Innocent, 4, and Creaotas aged 2.
On the material day, stabbed with hunger as he waited for his mother, a general worker at Tullamore Farm to knock off from work and prepare food for him, Mike and his friend Festus Muleya cracked a deal to douse their hunger.
They decided to undertake a mission of climbing a mango tree about 20 metres north-west of his mother’s house to pluck some mangoes within the yard of Mr Jacobsen.
Seeing the nicely ripe mangoes, Mike and Festus never thought of how dangerous it would be to climb the tree whose branches were leaning against a Zesco transformer.
Without a go-ahead from Mr Jacobsen, Mike and his friend climbed the tree with each one swiftly identifying some mangoes hanging on different branches.
As Mark was trying to pluck his most-wanted ripe mango while Festus also battled to pull down his darling fruit, he slipped off the branch.
While failing to balance amid fears, Mike ended up touching one of the live cables of the Zesco transformer.
Festus could not believe his eyes hearing his friend screaming barely a few seconds after the two were contemplating how they would silently come down from the over five-metre high tree to eat the fruits gathered.
On the other hand, as farm workers were busy with work while waiting for the bell to ring to break off for lunch, this time, the loudest echo they heard was that of Mike screaming.
He tumbled down from the tree, sustained severe burns and wounds on his both arms and chest which have not healed yet.
Narrating the ordeal amid sobs, Festus said “All I remember is that I saw Mike screaming and I quickly managed to come down from the tree because I didn’t know why Mike screamed like that,” he said.
Festus, who was a school classmate with Mike at Zambia National Service (ZNS) Basic School located about four kilometres from the farm, is now in Grade Two.
As Mike was battling in an unconscious state on the ground, Alfred Mudenda, a workers’ compound chairperson, was immediately informed by other workers about the accident and he rushed to pick him.
At the time of the accident, Mike’s mother, was out of the farm and the boy was only rushed to Choma General Hospital for treatment by Mr Mudenda and Mr Jacobsen’s wife.
When she came back to meet her son, Ms Ng’andu was transferred to Livingstone General Hospital to have Mike’s both arms amputated.
Mike, whose amputated arms have not healed, was scheduled to go for medical review at Livingstone General Hospital on March, 6, 2014.
Financial constraints, however, have rocked Ms Ng’andu who is looking after three of her children after her husband allegedly divorced her a few years ago and his whereabouts are not known.
Currently, she lives at the farm workers’ compound with her children in a small-two room house covered with worn out iron sheets.
With this dilemma, Patriotic Front (PF) Choma District vice-secretary Busy Kapepe and his wife, Sara, who reside near the farm, took Ms Ng’andu to Southern Province Minster Daniel Munkombwe’s office to see if she could get help.
The two PF official took a proactive role to help Mike saying the boy was an intelligent pupil and required support to go back to school.
“When we heard about this accident, as PF district official, I and my wife decided to lobby for assistance to help Mike,” he said.
He urged Zesco to ensure trees growing near transformers, pylons and other electrical facilities were cut to prevent future accidents.
Ms Ng’andu told Mr Munkombwe that she had no resources to meet medical expenses for her son and was appealing to Government, First Lady Christine Kaseba and other well-wishers to help her.
“I appeal to Government, Dr Kaseba and other well-wishers, to see how my son can be helped to get even just artificial arms as you can see, he is crying because he is in pain,” she said.
Mr Munkombwe directed the provincial social welfare department to mobilise resources and ensure that Mike was provided with appropriate medical treatment.
The minister said the future of Mike, like any other vulnerable children, should not be shattered due to lack of assistance.
A visit to Tullamore Farms by this reporter, found Mike and his mother struggling to teach the boy to feed using his right feet with an artificial spoon.
Mike, who uses the same right feet to learn to write on his old school books, said he wants to go back to school and become a doctor when he completes.
He said he feels lonely being home every day nursing wounds while his friends who are now in Grade Two at ZNS Basic School, were progressing well.
“If I can have my hands, I will join my classmates and become a doctor because I am seeing how my mother is nursing me and I also want to help other sick people,” he said.
Mike’s condition has touched many people with the first being a Lusaka-based prominent disability rights-activist and lawyer who has pledged a K5,000 cash for the boy to meet his medical expenses.
The donor, who sought anonymity, said he was touched with Ms Ng’andu appeal for assistance to uplift the condition of her son.
“I am physically disabled myself, I know many challenges this boy is going through and he requires assistance from anybody,” he said.
He said it was by the grace of God that he had managed to progress in life hence would in turn assist other vulnerable people like Mike.
He said disability was not inability and that Mike had a bright future and thee was need for people to assist those in desperate situations.
Mike is among many other children in such predicaments who need immediate assistance from well-wishers to lead a normal life.