From dependence to independence - Regi's story
Regis' mother was single when he was born and in a difficult situation. In desperation, she left Regis in a bush near home, thinking of abandonment
Like many other countries, Rwanda does not have statistics on persons with disabilities. The statistics that are available, for example on children with disabilities, are used by MyRight and our partner organisations in advocacy work.
Sada Igikundiro, who is deafblind and lives in Rwanda. Through one of MyRight's projects, Sada has learned to communicate via tactile sign language and can now take walks on her own.
MyRight has supported the umbrella organization Nudor in Rwanda since the start in 2010. Nudor is today an established umbrella organization in the country. Among other things, they carry out surveys of access to rehabilitation and capacity needs of health personnel with regard to the reception of people with disabilities. Nudor also works continuously to follow up on how laws that protect people with disabilities' rights are complied with and draws attention to factors that prevent children with disabilities from going to school.
The Ministry of Education has received extensive information about this group and this has resulted in five districts in Rwanda now budgeting to increase the quality of children with disabilities' education. MyRight has also helped train religious leaders in all children's right to education.
Our partner organizations work to ensure that people with disabilities have better access to education and health care, for example by training health and medical care workers.
MyRight's partners have been trained in the Disability Rights Promotion International (DRPI) method and shadow reporting processes. Based on the DRPI method, the disability movement in the country has prepared a shadow report to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Regis' mother was single when he was born and in a difficult situation. In desperation, she left Regis in a bush near home, thinking of abandonment
17-year-old Sada Igikundiro was born deaf and when she was six years old she also lost her sight. Sada could no longer communicate with the outside world and life turned into a passive waiting at home for another day to pass. But thanks to a project where deafblind people learn to communicate using tactile sign language, her life changed.
Jado lives with his family in the small village of Urugero, in the eastern province of Rwanda. He has six children. Two of them are blind. None of the sons have been allowed to go to the village school because the teachers have not considered it relevant that they should receive an education.