At the Coalface
At the Coalface is a series of conversations hosted by Philippe Rose.
Philippe's guests share stories about their life beyond the headlines of international affairs. They look for lessons learned about making an impact in the world as practitioners in diplomacy, international organisations, NGOs, journalism and the private sector.
Many of Philippe's guests are connected by their common experience of taking time away from work to attend Fletcher School's Global Master of Arts Programme.
At the Coalface
Irene Mbari-Kirika - Creative inclusion: helping Kenya's disabled from the ground up
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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