Makofi cannot hear or speak. She only uses signs to communicate which means if you need her help in the store, which opened its doors in July 2011, you would need to gesticulate indicating what you need. Garbed in white overalls and a safety headgear, Makofi was born a normal child in Tonota 38 years ago. An unidentified illness impaired her hearing in 1986 at the tender age of 10, when she was in Standard Four at Tonota Primary School. Makofi clearly remembers the day she lost her hearing.
"It was on February 2, 1986. I fell sick that morning; I just felt unbearable pain all over my body before I collapsed. The next thing, I found myself in bed at Jubilee Hospital but I could not hear the people who surrounded me when they were talking. From that day, I never regained my hearing. "I did not lose hope when I lost my hearing. The tragedy made me stronger. It motivated me to prove that I can make it to the top despite my condition," she wrote on a piece of paper during an interview with Mmegi last Friday at the Loja Mall store.
