Edith Masango
Edith Masango is the receptionist at Zimbabwe International Film Festival Trust. She is also visually impaired after losing her sight at the age of 20. She became the first visually-impaired actress in Zimbabwe to feature in a one-woman theatrical production in 2017, says her performance was a perfect platform to show that people living with disabilities are equally competent.
Background
“I was born with a poor eye-sight and night blindness and the condition kept deteriorating but I totally got blind at age 20 when I gave birth. This was the worst that could ever happen and honestly I did not know how to cope. I contemplated committing suicide as I did not find any reason to be alive since I could not even see the baby I had given birth to,” she recalls, emotion engraved in every syllable as she spoke.
Career
She played a role of someone who was blind in the short film called The Collector and she actually did very well as this brought a realist act to the film. She gladly accepted the offer and was determined to show them that there was no need for someone who is not blind to act blind while they are there and can equally play the character much better.[1]
After her role in the short film, Edith says she met the director of the Zimbabwe International Film Festival Trust, Nigel Munyati who approached and asked her what else she was doing besides acting. “My life has never been the same since then. Mr Munyati offered me a job after I had told him that I was job hunting. I’m forever grateful that he believed in me and gave me a chance to prove myself,” she says. “I have been working here since 2015 and this workplace has become like a second home.”
Masango starred in the play written by Major Special Matarirano and directed by veteran actress-cum-director Eunice Tava titled Narratives from the Dark which ran at Theatre in the Park in Harare on May 25 and 26, 2017.[2]
“I am very excited about the play. It will be a great opportunity for me to show that there is nothing we (People living with disabilities) can’t do. If they can act on a big stage, so can we,” Masango told the Daily News.
