Students from Georgia Institute of Technology Explore Areas of Collaboration with Masaka Resource Centre for the Blind in Rwanda

A team of researchers and students from the Georgia Institute of Technology visited the Masaka Resource Centre for the Blind (MRCB), established by Rwanda Union of the Blind (RUB), as part of their ongoing effort to accelerate assistive technology innovation in sub-Saharan Africa.

Led by Zeyn Ernden Frazer, a research faculty member, the group aims to develop locally relevant and sustainable solutions for people with disabilities. Their visit to the centre marked a key step in understanding the challenges faced by visually impaired individuals and exploring opportunities for collaboration.

“We are interested in finding locally relevant, sustainable solutions for people with disabilities,” Frazer said. “That’s why we are visiting disabled organizations and trying to understand how we can work together to design and build assistive technologies.”

This is the team’s second visit to MRCB, which serves as a hub for education, training, and support for visually impaired individuals in Rwanda. During their time at the center, the Georgia Tech delegation engaged with students, staff, and administrators to better understand the centre’s needs and the potential for technology-driven support.

“This was very informative visit for us and we will take a look at the interview results and we will decide what is the best way to move forward from here.” Fraser added

Although no specific timeline has been set for the partnership’s implementation, Dr. Donatille Kanimba, Retired Executive Director of RUB, expressed confidence in the partnership, stressing that the discussions they had will greatly benefit the centre.

She said “In fact, today was like a consultative meeting where we jointly examined how they could help us tackle some of the challenges in the functioning of this centre.”

“They promised to feature some of the products made at this center on their website, so that people in their area could place orders for items like clothes and scarves.”

One of the key tasks both parties committed to is exploring affordable ways to provide braille slates to those assisted by the centre as highlighted by the centre’s management during the team’s initial visit.

This partnership between RUB-MRCB and the Georgia Tech team stems from sideline events of the Women Deliver summit held in Rwanda in July 2023. The American delegation was inspired by the centre’s work and decided to support it by exploring collaborative opportunities through technology and innovation.

Masaka Resource Centre for the Blind is the only institution in Rwanda providing rehabilitation training for blind adults. It also offers training in orientation and mobility, activities of daily living, braille literacy, farming, and animal husbandry.