A caring institution for students with disabilities

Ange Theonastine Ashimwe sits pensively in her wheelchair on the verandah of the flat she rents in Kigali, browsing the news on her phone. She has just completed a revision of her study material.

The 21-year-old communication and business student has long yellow hair, is dressed in shorts and sandals, has earrings in both ears and on the left side of her nose is another ring.

Ashimwe became physically disabled at the age of six when she started her primary education in her home district of Musanze.

“I used to be a normal kid who could walk but, one day, my muscles just became weak. I went to several hospitals but they could not detect a disease. When I could not walk any more I ended up in a wheelchair,” she told University World News in an interview.

Ashimwe’s family later learned from medical practitioners that she suffered from myopathy, an irreversible muscle fibre dysfunction, which was not known to local doctors.

Becoming disabled meant that her education was immediately affected. It was the beginning of a difficult journey.

Primary and secondary

Ashimwe started school at Regina Pacis Primary school, which was close to home in Musanze district in the Northern Province of Rwanda, but it was not accessible to students with disabilities.

“So I went to study at HVP Gatagara, which is about 166km away from where my home is, but [I went there] because they help one to study and they offer support like medication, physiotherapy and any other assistance a person with a disability has,” she said.

Ashimwe says she performed well in primary school and passed the national exam to proceed to secondary level. She enrolled in a science school, EAV Mayaga, a school she liked as it offered quality education. The school is located in the Southern Province where she had attended primary school.

“I was supposed to go there, but the school is built in a way that I could not manage [to move]. There are a lot of stairs. The school was not allowing day scholars. It was not accommodating and we gave up,” she explains.

“When that did not work out, my parents found me a school in ESSA Ruhengeri in the Musanze district. I did not like the place, but I said [to myself] it was better to attend a school that was welcoming than a better school which is not accommodating,” she says, adding that the school was at least close to home.

A tough three years

When she passed the ordinary national exam, at lower secondary, Ashimwe applied to do history, economics, and geography as a subject combination for her last years of high school.

Again, she was admitted to an inaccessible school. Ecole Secondaire Cyabingo in the Gakenke district was on top of a hill and even cars battled to reach the school.

Although it was 70km away, the only option she had was to become a day scholar. She had to stay with someone who could support her daily activities, including taking her to school.

“We stayed in a tiny room and I could go to school every day. It was difficult studying there. There were people who stared [at me] a lot, so I would be going to school and they ... would form a circle around me. I would come late for school. It was the worst three years I ever had in high school,” she recalls.

She says that students helped her to lift the wheelchair so that she could attend class because there were stairs almost everywhere.

“High school was also very difficult in terms of affordability because my parents were paying the same school fees as everyone else. They also had to pay for someone who took care of me, for food and then for rent,” she says.

Joining a university

Ashimwe says people with disabilities seldom go to university. Her dream of pursuing a qualification was bound to be challenging.

But Ashimwe has never stopped trying. In 2018, when she completed secondary school, she heard about Kepler, a non-profit higher education programme that operates a university campus in Kigali, and that it was possible to obtain a study loan through Chancen International. She applied.

Kepler is a non-governmental organisation that has been working in Rwanda since 2013, in partnership with Southern New Hampshire University in the US.

Ashimwe says she passed the essay on various topics and later Kepler invited her to sit for a written exam including mathematics, English and listening skills.

“After the exam, they announced the winners, and I passed it. I was invited for an interview which I also passed,” she says. “Kepler helped me with the transition to university life, and treated me differently from the schools I had attended [before],” she adds.

One of the things the Kepler University Programme did was to make a table that Ashimwe could use – a table that was not too high for her as a wheelchair user and that still enabled her to sit among other students. In other schools, people with disabilities may sit in front, feeling stigmatised.

“The classrooms are accessible, because we study in groups with a course facilitator and a teaching assistant. My group is always on the ground level,” she notes.

“Kepler built a special toilet and gave me a key. It is a small thing, but it is a critical aspect,” she adds.

She says the difference between Kepler and other institutions is that people “care” and when you have a request because of a special need, you do not have to pay more money.

Kepler has health, wellness, diversity, equity and inclusion sections and academic advisers to help with peer mentoring.

A culture of care

Ashimwe says she had vetted other universities before joining Kepler. Some would have cost her family more. Others presented physical hurdles and she did not even consider them.

“I stayed at Kepler because people here are very understanding. They have someone in charge of diversity, who makes sure that if you are a student with a disability or if you have another problem that would make it difficult to fit in at the school, she follows up and she really cares,” she says.

“For instance, if we have a meeting that is happening off the campus, they find a car to take me along with other students because I cannot go on the bus.”

The same applies to meals: “… because going home for lunch and coming back was difficult, they allow someone to bring me food. I eat in class. They are very accommodating,” she says.

According to Sylvia Uhirwa, the director of external relations at Kepler, the university provides Ashimwe with extra housing support, together with utilities like water and electricity.

“This is to make sure she is comfortable because dormitories are not designed to allow her to access meals, sleeping, and washing. At school, it is pretty easy to support her with all other students and we see no challenges,” she says.

Kepler has admitted three more students with disabilities and the university is getting ready to serve these students as they would serve any other student, while at the same time ensuring that special needs are taken care of.

Leaders should support the cause

Ashimwe is grateful that she can study. “My parents spent a lot of money on me in primary and in secondary school and on buying medicine. If I was going to study at a university where I had to pay, I don’t think they could have managed to pay for me,” she says.

Ashimwe’s student loan covers food, accommodation, tuition and a monthly stipend. She will repay the money once she has a job. The debt is waived if the graduate has not secured a job after 15 years.

“When I was admitted, I was so excited. It was like ‘Wow!’ God did hear my prayer that I needed a quality education,” she says.

Being disabled in school, whether you come from a very poor or a middle-class family, is hard. One easily has to pay three times the price that other students pay, she noted.

“I have studied with a lot of students who are disabled, bright and have exceptional talent. When I speak to them [now] they are at home and have no dream of going to university,” she says.

She says there is a need for the public, especially leaders, to support persons with disabilities to find the available opportunities.

Looking ahead

Ashimwe is the second-eldest in her family. She is an award-winning poet and a budding journalist who occasionally writes for magazines.

“A lot of people ask what one wants to become. I just want to be a better human being every single day,” she says.

To become a better person, she believes she can use the privilege she has had to gain an education to advocate for those who don’t have the same privileges.

There are no official figures of persons with disabilities in Rwanda but the University of Rwanda, which is the biggest university, has about 500 people with disabilities in its six colleges.

Ashimwe supports the notion of inclusive education, which means that all learners, no matter who they are, can learn together in the same facility. This entails reaching out and removing all barriers that could limit participation and achievement.

This is in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.

This article was updated on 13 April 2021.