The one-handed photographer: 'I prove people wrong'

A Congolese photographer who lost her arm in a militia attack has told BBC News Swahili how she came to start her own photography company. Patience Dositha, who owns Abled Photography, is now based in Kenya. She left the Democratic Republic of Congo as a child after her mother was killed in an attack, and her badly injured father begged a passerby to take Patience to safety. Patience was taken to Rwanda by the woman who rescued her, but after finishing school she was kicked out by her adoptive siblings as their mother had died. She then met a family friend who drove transit lorries across East Africa, and convinced him to smuggle her into Kenya. "On arrival he gave me five dollars to get me started off, and after few days I was broke and had to sleep outside and eat leftovers from the bins," she told the BBC. One day, Patience heard a man speaking Kinyarwanda on the phone and followed him, waiting for him to disconnect his call. She introduced herself and asked if he could accommodate her. The man said he worked as a guard and told her he would consult his wife.The next day, he took Patience in. Patience later reached out to the International Rescue Committee who paid for her to attend a photography course. After her studies, Patience started her own photography company. "Some people doubt my photography skills because I have one hand, but when I take a photo of them they love my work and end up calling me to take more photos," she told the BBC. "I want to grow my company to become internationally recognised." Patience says she hopes her own story will encourage other immigrants and people with disabilities not to lose hope.

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DR Congo

Patience Dositha

Photography