Every day, many people with disabilities flock to his Facebook page, each with different problems that need to be addressed.
Their requests need urgent intervention, and because of his devotion to helping this group of vulnerable citizens, he addresses many issues through his postings.
His experiences struggling to get a school for his daughter inspired Jonathan Metet, a finance officer at Technical University of Mombasa (TUM), to start championing the rights of the disabled.
In an interview with Nation.Africa in Kilifi town, Mr Metet said he could not find a school to take in his hearing-impaired firstborn daughter, Blessy Chepkuri, 18.
An ear, nose and throat doctor had advised Mr Metet to take the girl to a normal school. She was to sit at the front of the class and get a hearing aid.
“My daughter developed hearing complications after six months after a long illness, which led to her disability. However, even after the doctor’s recommendations that she should be enrolled in a normal school, none wanted to admit her due to her condition,” he said.
He said his daughter attended four different primary schools before he resolved to take her to the Kibarani School for the Deaf in Kilifi.
But Blessy was transferred to St Kizito Litein School for the Deaf in 2018 in Standard Six and sat her KCPE examinations in 2020.
“Some schools do not accept disabled children. We used to be denied chances at school because no teacher was willing to bear the responsibility of handling my deaf daughter,” he said.
“We even tried to explain to teachers what the doctor had recommended but they could brush off the report.”
The social and financial struggles the family went through in search of treatment for their daughter prompted him to start helping other families with disabled children.
“I was stuck financially in 2008 and I could not access loans from my sacco due to debts I already had while seeking treatment for my daughter, until my colleagues came to my aid and held a fundraiser for me,” he said.
"I went through a lot of challenges as I sought treatment and education for my daughter. This made me ask myself how poor parents in rural villages managed to educate their disabled children,” he said.
His advocacy for the rights of the disabled countrywide through his Facebook page saw him appointed to the Disability Mainstreaming Committee at TUM.
“I use my Facebook page to share important information for people to see and also disseminate it to the grassroots to help others,” he said.
“This page also helps in calling for action from the relevant departments when a person with a disability has been denied their rights.”
One of his successes involved a young man who had been denied admission at Kenya Coast National Polytechnic because he was deaf.
Mr Metet picked up the matter and brought it to the attention of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWDs) and the student was admitted.
He is in the forefront to ensure that disabled people get wheelchairs, financial support meant for vulnerable citizens and bursaries. He also helps them register with NCPWDs.
“It is difficult to pass a message to a person with disabilities without a proper mode of communication. Being a parent to a disabled child and being a person living with disabilities takes a lot of will. Some of them lose hope in life due to the stigma and discrimination they are going through,” he added.
He said the only way to support this vulnerable group is to empower them through education and access to the right information.
“In matters of disability, all that one needs is support from the family and community. In some families, disabled people are rejected and disowned by their spouses, being accused of bringing a bad omen to their families,” he said.
Because of the many challenges parents of disabled children face, he said, some of them do not see any value in them and they do not take them to school.
