THE LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE AND FOUNDER OF THE UWIRAGIYE FOUNDATION MET PEOPLE LIVING WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT

From March 18 to 19, 2025, the legal representative and Founder of the Uwiragiye Foundation met with people living with visual impairments in the provinces of Kayanza , Ngozi, Kirundo , Muyinga and Gitega. The objective of this meeting was to raise awareness and support blind and visually impaired adults, in addition to the children she educates within the Uwiragiye Foundation at the Penn school  blind . She had been deprived of food and non-food.

Sylvie Uwiragiye, representative of the Uwiragiye Foundation , explained that this initiative was organized to celebrate the month dedicated to women, also marking the soon seven years of existence of the Uwiragiye Foundation , which is dedicated to the education of blind and visually impaired children.

In response to this support, the beneficiaries expressed their gratitude for the assistance, which included loincloths, rice, corn flour, and doughnuts for those with children. These visually impaired people raised concerns, including the difficulty of obtaining white canes to facilitate their mobility, as well as difficulties with social integration.

In these lessons, Sylvie Uwiragiye emphasized the importance of empowering blind and visually impaired people, stressing that they should not be seen as people to be pitied, but rather as individuals capable of working, acting and developing.

She said that a person living with a visual impairment should not beg on the streets, but should be able to support themselves and contribute to their development.

Uwiragiye Foundation representative encouraged the beneficiaries to engage in income-generating activities, such as livestock farming or crafts, to improve their independence. She also emphasized that childbearing is not a burden for people with visual impairments. « Having children for a person living with a visual impairment is not an obstacle to education and livelihood; it is entirely possible to raise and educate them properly, » she added. Sylvie Uwiragiye advocated with the government for better support for people with disabilities, particularly in education. She emphasized that visually impaired children should have access to free education and be provided with adequate school materials.

« It is unacceptable that a child whose parents have a visual impairment should be excluded from school simply because they do not have notebooks or financial means, » she denounced.

Looking ahead, Sylvie Uwiragiye expressed her hope that the children educated by the Uwiragiye Foundation will achieve a high level of education, completing their studies up to university and becoming active and productive citizens in society. She is confident that by 2040-2060, these children will be well integrated and have a promising future, contributing to the country’s development.