Kellya Uwiragiye, The Brains Behind Media for Deaf Rwanda

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Scholars share their best stories of bold change for young women and girls across Africa. Arlette Akingeneye is a Scholar in the Program at African Leadership Academy pursuing her undergraduate degree in arts and science at Quest University, Canada. In her essay, Arlette celebrates the contributions of Kellya Uwiragiye, a leader carving space for Rwanda’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Communities.

If you meet her, you will always be welcomed by her sincere smile and genuine heart. Kellya Uwiragiye, 25, is a young Rwandan woman who is using her passion for journalism to bridge the gap between media and Rwanda’s Deaf community.

When she was in her final year at University of Rwanda, Kellya wrote an academic thesis on how Rwandan media serve disabled people. It was through her research that she realized how Deaf people have limited access to information. Apart from the Kinyarwanda news bulletin on Rwanda National Television, there is no other television program with a sign language interpreter in Rwanda. Kellya felt the need to take action and discussed her ideas with her former classmate, Aimé Frederic Rangira.

Together, they decided to start Media for Deaf Rwanda, a non-governmental organization that strives for media inclusion of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in Rwanda. When Media for Deaf Rwanda started, team members did not have any financial support – they were financing their activities themselves. However, the financial struggles did not stop them from achieving their goals.

“They launched their first campaign, “Sign Your Name” (#SUN), which aimed to raise awareness about Rwandan sign language.” The campaign consisted of engaging the participants into signing their names and giving messages in Rwandan Sign Language. After several influential people such as the Minister of Youth and ICT, Hon. Jean Philbert Nsengimana, and the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Lamin M. Manneh participated in Sign Your Name, the campaign took off and was well appreciated by the Rwandan community.

In addition to the successful Sign Your Name campaign, Media for Deaf Rwanda has joined with the Rwanda National Union of the Deaf to release a short documentary film about sign language called “Hear Me Out”. The film is intended to raise awareness about sign language and showcase communication barriers encountered by Deaf people. Media for Deaf Rwanda also plans to address issues that Deaf people are still facing in other critical areas such as education and capacity building.

In December 2015, Kellya was awarded the Young Rwandan Achievers Award (CYRWA) offered by Her Excellency, the First Lady of the Republic of Rwanda, Mrs Jeannette Kagame, through IMBUTO Foundation and the Ministry of Youth and ICT. Last year, Kellya was also listed among 60 young people across the Commonwealth in Queen’s Young Leaders Programme, which celebrates the achievements of young people who are taking the lead to transform the lives of others and make a lasting difference in their communities.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, I hope that Kellya’s story can inspire and empower young women who would like to start a project in their community. We can all learn from her that where there is determination and passion, there is always a possibility.