Ouyaubi beats his disability
Dumisani Ncube | Friday October 21, 2016 16:24
It was a mouth-watering competition, which many artists embraced coming up with different concepts, but were outclassed by Bolokang Ouyaubi. Ouyaubi’s victory left many amazed on how a man living with disability managed to come up tops.
The 33-year-old Maun native does not have hands and relies on a short right limb. Showbiz caught up with the multi media artists who shared his experiences as an artist living with disability.
“It all started when I was still doing computer studies and I came across Photoshop in 2007 which I quickly developed interest in using till I persuaded myself to enroll for a multimedia degree program so I could learn more. This led to me being a multi media artist that works on graphics and visuals,” he said.
He noted that he has always been a handy person that enjoys doing manual work despite his disability. As a young lad he says was taught a number of technical and manual jobs, which loved to do.
“With the aid of my legs it tends to be a bit easier as I also use them to do different types of work,” he said as he demonstrated with a touch screen phone how he could play around and use machinery with his limb.
The highly motivated Ouyaubi speaks with high spirits and he is confident with every move he takes. He has even worked at Botswana Television (BTV) studios as part of the production team.
Speaking on his condition Ouyaubi said anyone can be whoever they want to be in life as long as they eliminate the mentality of limiting themselves due to their abilities and physical make up. “Anyone in life can be who he/she want to be,” he said.
Despite living with disability Ouyaubi prefers not to be given special treatment, as he believes that if one tend to relax and limit their strength and abilities.
Ouyaubi said he used to doubt himself but the support that he received from his peers and family made him realise that he is able to conquer the world. He said his secret is to quickly demonstrate his capabilities. “Before I acquired a driver’s license I had to demonstrate to the Department of Roads and Transport bosses that I am capable of doing it,” he said.
He is currently employed as a graphic designer at a local public entity and has a multi media company that he is running. When quizzed if clients have faith in him because of his condition he said, “people are actually interested in me doing work for them, some even seat down with me while I am working to see how I do the production work”.
The multimedia artist believes that his upbringing played a role in helping him to develop into the man he is today. He noted that he grew up in an environment, which had people that supported him despite being teased by some kids at primary school who would ask him offensive questions.
Ouyaubi says he has faced a few challenges along his journey as some teachers used to doubt his speed especially when using computers but he would quickly catch up. “My speed is not that accurate I am 10 minutes slower compared to someone that uses two hands,” he said.
He also spoke about how he manages to come up with creative works similar to the one that led him to winning P50,000. He stated that before working on anything he brainstorms, researches, reads and then come up with a concept of what he wants to work on.
“We have pretty good designers in the country not that I am doubting myself. I have people that I have so much respect for. You have to go an extra mile to be extra ordinary,” he said.
As a multi media artist he believes that the secret of growing your clientele is to produce work that people would love to see. After seeing his work Ouyaubi’s friends persuaded him to enter for the St Louis competition.