It was the first time I was meeting her. From a distance she cut a posture of an amiable personality. Within minutes of talking to her, it felt like I was talking to someone I had known for years.
This was my first encounter with Dr Beth Mukarwego, a visually impaired lecturer at University of Rwanda’s College of Education. She is a lecturer in the School of Inclusive and Special Needs Education in Kimironko, a Kigali suburb.
Despite her impairment, Mukarwego has a story that shines beyond her visual impairment.
Like a seasoned teacher, she was just in time for the interview and also thanked me for keeping time. As we walked to her office, she also reminded me about her busy schedule. The soft-spoken lecturer had in fact just returned from upcountry, where she is campaigning for a political office. She is contesting to become a Member of Parliament in the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) representing people with disabilities in Rwanda.
As we took a stroll to her office, she moved with a sense of urgency despite using a white cane. At one point, she neatly folded the white cane, placed it under her arm and walked like she had regained her sight.
“I can easily find my way around. I hardly make use of the white cane,” she said as she opened the door to her office.
Dressed in a black and red dress, she invited me to have a seat in her office. It is a small but neat office with books and files placed on a table. It is from here that she spent over 20 minutes to share her inspirational life story.
Growing up
Mukarwego was born in Burundi and raised in Kenya. She was born with visual impairment and is the second born in a family of four. She spent most of her life in boarding school in Kenya. Having joined when she was only five years old, she would go back home only once a year, and that was the only time she got to spend with her siblings.
She joined boarding school at a young age because there was no school for children with special needs in Burundi at that time, and so she had to go to Kenya.
She joined Thika School for the Visually Impaired for primary education.