Woman claims man’s P50 left her blind
A Mochudi woman, Jennifer Seeme, sits with a white walking cane by her side, her eyes open but unable to see everything she once knew so clearly. Her voice carries both strength and sorrow as she tells a story that still confuses and haunts her. “All I know is that my sight disappeared after receiving P50 from a stranger,” she says softly.
Jennifer remembers a very different life before everything changed. She was a healthy child, full of life and determination. Growing up, she had no problems with her eyesight. She could see clearly, and like many young women, she had dreams of building a future for herself.
“I was strong and hardworking. I never imagined that one day I would wake up and not be able to see,” she said.
Her life took a sudden turn in July 2009. At the time, Jennifer was working as a vendor at the Gaborone bus rank, trying to make an honest living. It was just like any other day, filled with customers coming and going. Then one man approached her stall.
“He bought something and gave me P50. When I tried to check the money closely, that’s when everything changed,” she explains. Her eyes suddenly became painful. Within moments, her vision started fading.
“I could not understand what was happening. I just felt pain, and then I could not see properly anymore,” she says. Panicked and afraid, she rushed to the hospital, hoping for answers and treatment. But what she heard there only deepened her confusion.
“The doctor told me my eyes were fine. He said there was nothing wrong,” she says. But Jennifer knew something was terribly wrong. Her world had already begun to darken.
“I believe witchcraft is real, because what happened to me, I cannot explain it,” she says quietly.
From that day on, her life changed completely. The independence she once had slowly slipped away. Simple tasks became difficult.
Moving around required help. The young woman who once stood confidently at her stall now had to learn how to live in darkness.
Despite everything, Jennifer refused to give up on her dreams.
In 2012, three years after losing her sight, she enrolled at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology. It was not easy. Studying without sight required courage, patience, and a new way of learning.
Today, Jennifer is a trained journalist. She has also obtained a certificate in secretarial studies. She reads and writes using Braille, a skill she worked hard to master after losing her vision.
“I know Braille very well,” she says with quiet pride. But even with her qualifications, life has not been kind.
Jennifer is currently unemployed, struggling to find an opportunity to prove herself.
“I still have dreams, I want to work again. I want to show people that disability is not inability,” she says.
Her words carry hope, but also pain.
She speaks of the emotional battles she has faced over the years. The frustration of being misunderstood. The silence that follows when job applications go unanswered. “Any tough situation can make a person lose hope,” she admits.
There are days when the weight of her journey feels too heavy. Days when she remembers the life she once had, the freedom, the independence, the simple joy of seeing, despite all, she keeps going.