Pynhoi Tang
Country: India
Organisation: Sapphire Early Intervention Center
Vision: A society in Meghalaya free from superstitious beliefs where blind children and adults can live a happy, dignified life. In Meghalaya, it is difficult for children with disabilities to go to school due to poverty and superstitious beliefs about the causes of disability. Today, with the opening of the new Sapphire Early Intervention Center, there are thirty (30) children with and without disabilities playing and learning together. The Sapphire Early Intervention Center conducts home visits to children with disabilities living in remote villages and works with mental health issues, as well as organizing self help groups for women with disabilities empowering them to generate income.
Khom Raj Sharma
Country: Nepal
Organisation: Inclusion Empowerment Center (IEC) Nepal
Vision: An inclusive society allowing all persons with disabilities to freely access services based on their needs, live fruitful and happy lives, and be fully integrated members of the greater society. The Inclusion Empowerment Center (IEC) Nepal is a social entrepreneurial venture that empowers people with disabilities, especially the visually-impaired through training in the areas of information technology and English language. This increases their opportunities for inclusion in higher education and the labour market and breaks the condition of poverty and discrimination faced by many people with disabilities in Nepal.
Kyila
Country: China
Organisation: Kiki's Kindergarten
Vision: Empower the blind before they become disabled. In Buddhist culture, people tend to consider blindness as punishment for past sins. Many parents are ashamed at having to bear the burden of a blind child. Therefore, Kyila started an inclusive kindergarten for blind and sighted toddlers, to provide early intervention. In the kindergarten the children play, run around and climb trees, they learn important skills and find out that it is not the end of the world to be blind. The kindergarten is designed to host both blind and sighted children providing specific care and training, while simultaneously bridging the cultural gap between those who can see and those who cannot.
Yoshimi Horiuchi
Country: Japan
Organisation: Bookworm Caravan Foundation (BCF)
Vision: To promote the joy of reading for all with special focus on children and so-called marginalised people, thereby making Thai society more accepting of differences.
BWF promotes the joy of reading and learning through mobile library, community library, and literacy projects. Rang Mai Library has over 10,000 books for all ages, opened to 50,000 residents of Phrao District, Chiang Mai, located in northern Thailand. We conduct around 100 mobile library activities per year at schools, kindergartens, and community centres. In addition, we do monthly home visits to 15 library users who cannot go outside due to disability and other circumstances. Also, we have 2 early childhood learning centers for ethnic minority children in the mountainous area surrounding town of Phrao: Sunshine Kids Center for Akha and Lahu children, and Little Smiles Center for mainly Lisu children. In these centers, we prepare the children ages between 2 to 6 so that they can integrate themselves into existing education system in Thailand. Since 2012, more than 40 children have successfully graduated.
Vision: More at alwaysreadingcaravan.org/
Jane Waithera
Country: Kenya
Organisation: Positive Exposure Kenya
Vision: To improve the quality of life for persons with albinism in Kenya. Jane was Born with albinism (a genetic condition resulting from lack of melanin). She is The Co-founder of Positive Exposure Kenya –PE-Kenya, a non-profit organization committed to improving the quality of lives for persons with albinism in Kenya. As there are numerous cases of killings of people with albinism due to superstitious beliefs in East Africa, Jayne conducts sensitization campaigns to protect the rights of these people. In addition, Positive Exposure Kenya supports health, education and livelihood programmes for the same target group.
Lucy Karimi
Country: Kenya
Organisation: Albinism Society Kenya
Vision: A society free from prejudice, discrimination and social oppression towards persons with Albinism. The project offers a safe haven for people with Albinism and provides vocational training. Currently Lucy works with 31 beneficiaries. One greenhouse has been built to train participants in the growing of vegetables. A piece of land has been acquired for future greenhouses in order to create a self-sustainable venture. A watermelon farming initiative has taken off successfully.
Julius Braimah
Country: Ghana
Organisation: Resource Centre for Adaptive Technology
Adaptive computer learning centre for visually impaired
Hussni Bugis
Country: Saudi Arabia
Organisation: Touch
Being partially sighted, Hussni faces several challenges in daily life. Being Blind or partially sighted limits job opportunities. Hussni runs a massage clinic and in this he also trains partially sighted and blind people so they can start their own clinics.
James, Johnson and Victor
Country: Liberia
Organisation: Education a Blind Child Foundation Liberia
Equipping poorest visually impaired children with skills to integrate in society (Braille, mobility etc.).
Robert Namasake Sabwami
Country: Kenya
Organisation: Centre for Adaptive Technology (CAT)
Inclusive ICT centre for visually impaired providing adaptive computer courses.
Gyentsen
Country: China
Organisation: Tibetan Unlimited Library and Production
Library for the visually impaired in Tibet that provides audio and Braille books in Tibetan, Chinese and English.
Holi Karin Martin
Country: Madagascar
Organisation: Madagascar Education and Resource Center for the Visually Impaired (MERCI)
Support and services, for visually impaired people in and around Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar.
Mohammed Salia
Country: Kenya
Organisation: SEED Sierra Leone
Poor women are as gifted with entrepreneurial and creative skills as anybody else, but have often been underemployed for lack of access to lands and other productive resources. SEED SIERRA LEONE believes by providing small loans to assist them in exploring and developing their skills and engaging in productive micro enterprises, micro credit can generate employment, income and contributes to national development goals. Through a micro credit support program to empower poor people, over 300 war affected widows and youths (age 15-35) living below poverty line have been given small loans. As a result of our program single mothers can now feed, cloth, send their children to school and. cook good food.
Jessica Schroeder
Country: Germany
Organisation: Reach Out
Mobile resource and support center for disability related organisations to provide training in teaching techniques, fundraising, counselling and awareness raising campaigns.
Sahr Yillia and Kaprie Kanu
Country: Sierra Leone
Organisation: Youth Partnership for Peace and Development (YPPD)
Vision: To reduce extreme poverty for children in post-conflict countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Civil war, military coups and crimes against humanity: these are all crises that Sahr Yillia and Kaprie Kanu have lived through. Coming from the neighboring nations of Liberia and Sierra Leone respectively, Sahr and Kaprie understand that young people and the disabled bear most of the physical and emotional scars that decades of violence leave behind and become most vulnerable to the ensuing trauma and poverty. Both Sahr and Kaprie came to kanthari because they wanted to create a stable, inclusive and empowering community for the disabled and the youth of Liberia. Civil war, military coups and crimes against humanity: these are all crises that Sahr Yillia and Kaprie Kanu have lived through. Coming from the neighboring nations of Liberia and Sierra Leone respectively, Sahr and Kaprie understand that young people and the disabled bear most of the physical and emotional scars that decades of violence leave behind and become most vulnerable to the ensuing trauma and poverty. Both Sahr and Kaprie came to kanthari because they wanted to create a stable, inclusive and empowering community for the disabled and the youth of Liberia. Together Sahr and Kaprie launched the Youth Partnership for Peace and Development (YPPD) Liberia to empower the young and disabled to improve their lives and overcome poverty. What makes YPPD unique is that it doesn’t just serve the young and disabled. Rather, it is comprised of the young and disabled, who are responsible for its operations, management and success. By providing education and professional training, encouraging participation in public life through sports and cultural events, and promoting involvement in politics at all levels, YPPD is creating opportunities for the young and disabled to become stakeholders in their own lives and in the process improve living standards and reduce poverty. Sahr and Kaprie know that it takes collective effort, innovative methods and most importantly passionate young people to advance social causes.