At the Coalface

Irene Mbari-Kirika - Creative inclusion: helping Kenya's disabled from the ground up

August 30, 2023 Philippe Rose Episode 52
At the Coalface
Irene Mbari-Kirika - Creative inclusion: helping Kenya's disabled from the ground up
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Show Notes

In this episode, I speak with Irene Mbari-Kirika. Irene shares her story of coming face to face with the challenges of young people with disabilities, and her journey to do something about it. Irene founded InAble over 16 years ago with the mission of helping the visually impaired in schools in Kenya with assistive technology. inAble has reached over 15,000 students, enabling them to learn and to gain the skills today’s world demands. Irene talks about the arduous journey of setting up her organisation from scratch, and incrementally growing it with persistence, consistence, creativity and resilience. And we reflect on why helping with disabilities in Africa was a concept that took years to resonate until inclusion became more ‘mainstream’ over the past 2 years.

Irene mentions the book Creative Leadership: Born from Design by Rama Gheerawo.

Recorded on 24 July 2023.

Instagram: @at.the.coalface

Connect with Irene on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/irene-mbari-kirika/ and at inable.org.

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