Oor Zain EckletonAbout Zain Eckleton
Ná sy aftrede bestee Zain Eckleton sy tyd grootliks aan sy skryfwerk. As blinde bly dit vir hom 'n uitdagende en tydsame proses. Die rekenaarstem wat die teks op die skerm vir hom lees, is eentonig en maak hom dikwels lomerig, vertel hy. Dan laat hy die stem maar weer teruglees, “en só ploeter ek voort”. Tussendeur speel hy die rol van enkelouer sedert sy vrou se afsterwe in 2010. Net soos die genot wat hy uit sy skryfwerk put, geniet hy dit om vir sy dogters te sorg en sien hy met vreugde na homself om. Sy debuutroman, Die Rolbalspeler, het in 2011 by Kwela verskyn.
Zain is in Goodwood gebore maar het weens die Groepsgebiedewet op die Kaapse Vlakte grootgeword. Sy pa was 'n ongeletterde nutsman, sy ma 'n halfgeletterde arbeider. Hy is die oudste van drie seuns en die enigste gestremde in die gesin. Hy is met die oogsiekte, retinitis pigmentosa, gebore.
Mense met retinitis pigmentosa het aanvanklik 'n beperkte mate van sig wat mettertyd verswak tot 'n punt wat hulle net tussen lig en donker kan onderskei, waar sy sig tans is. Sy drome om na matriek 'n naskoolse kwalifikasie te behaal sodat hy en sy gesin die armoede en ellende waarin hulle leef kon vryspring, is deur sy oogtoestand belemmer. Weens onkunde oor die hulp en ondersteuning wat vir siggestremdes beskikbaar was, is hy in die destydse standerd ses uit die skool en het hy as arbeider probeer werk om homself en sy gesin te onderhou. Ook daarvoor het sy verlies aan sig en die onkunde oor sy oogtoestand 'n stokkie gesteek. Eers toe hy dertig was het hy danksy 'n maatskaplikewerkster by die Vereniging vir Blindes en die Vriendebond van die Blindes uitgekom. Deur die ondersteuning, opleiding en opvoeding onder beskutte omstandighede het hy vir die eerste keer verstaan en geleer wat dit is om siggestremd te wees en hoe om onafhanklik in die openbaar te funksioneer. Hulle het hom ook gehelp om sy skoolopleiding deur middel van korrespondensiekursusse te hervat. Later is hy deur die Optima Kollege en Telkom opgelei as telefonis. En hy het 'n kursus as hulp-maatskaplikewerker voltooi. Hy was toe al in sy veertigs en nie meer lus om 'n naskoolse kwalifikasie te verwerf soos hy wou nie.
Since his retirement Zain Eckleton has spent most of his time on his writing. As a blind person it remains a challenging and time-consuming process for him. The computer voice that reads the text on the screen to him is monotonous and often makes him drowsy, he says. Then he simply has the voice read it back again — “en só ploeter ek voort”, and so I plod on. In between he has played the role of single parent since his wife's death in 2010. Just as he draws pleasure from his writing, he enjoys caring for his daughters and looks after himself with gladness. His debut novel, Die Rolbalspeler, appeared with Kwela in 2011.
Zain was born in Goodwood but grew up on the Cape Flats because of the Group Areas Act. His father was an illiterate handyman, his mother a semi-literate labourer. He is the eldest of three sons and the only disabled person in the family. He was born with the eye condition retinitis pigmentosa.
People with retinitis pigmentosa have at first a limited degree of sight, which weakens over time to the point where they can distinguish only between light and dark — where his sight is now. His dreams of gaining a post-school qualification after matric, so that he and his family could escape the poverty and hardship they lived in, were obstructed by his eye condition. Because of ignorance about the help and support available to the visually impaired, he left school in what was then standard six and tried to work as a labourer to support himself and his family. There too his loss of sight and the ignorance about his eye condition put a stop to it. Only when he was thirty did he find his way, thanks to a social worker, to the Association for the Blind and the Friends' Society of the Blind. Through their support, training and education in a sheltered setting he understood and learned for the first time what it is to be visually impaired, and how to function independently in public. They also helped him resume his schooling through correspondence courses. Later he was trained as a telephonist by Optima College and Telkom. And he completed a course as an assistant social worker. By then he was already in his forties and no longer inclined to gain the post-school qualification he had wanted.