Victor Kiplang’at, one of inABLE’s beneficiaries, is a problem solver par excellence. His curiosity spurs him to fix broken electrical gadgets so much that when his headphones broke during a lesson, he couldn’t sit still as he was trying to repair them. The grade 5 pupil, who is blind, was so disturbed that his teacher took notice, and when he was approached, he stated that one day he would figure out how to not only fix the headphones but also design one.

Seeing that Victor won’t relent in his repair mission, the teacher guided him in putting it together through touch and feel. Victor toyed with every wire and, after that, relaxed back in his chair and said, “I will find the best tools and come back to do the repairing myself. I cannot wait to become an engineer who understands what is inside the computer and what each wire does to keep the computer working properly.”

His desire and passion encourage us, his teachers, to do everything we can to keep him motivated. At home, he enjoys repairing their family radio and TV and prefers being called Engineer Victor and not just Victor.

Victor is a testament thatour visually impaired students are not only eager to learn how to use computers, but they also want to become the best at it. Many of them aspire to become software engineers and design inclusive digital devices. Anthony Wambua – a computer instructor and graduate of the Computer-Labs-for-the-Blind program– is a leading example as he sharpens his coding skills daily. He even wowed First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, who recognized him as the first blind programmer in Africa.

We are pleased to witness our students develop their technology skills and grow their passion in the field. 

Written by: Carol Ngondi, Computer Instructor, inABLE