From Learning to Earning: How KBTA is Shaping Brighter Futures for Youth with Visual Impairments

At Kilimanjaro Blind Trust Africa (KBTA), we are driven by a powerful mission: to ensure that children and youth with visual impairments are not left behind. Through our Employability Skills Training program, we are bridging the critical gap between education and employment, helping graduates with visual impairments transition into meaningful, dignified work.

Transforming Potential into Opportunity

KBTA's employability skills training program for young graduates with visual impairments was officially rolled out in March 2023. To date,  we have successfully trained 8 cohorts, reaching 87 young graduates within a comprehensive program that combines:

• Adapted ICT training

• Digital skills and online work readiness

• Essential soft skills for the workplace

• Financial management skills

  
  

These skills are tailored to address the barriers faced by youth with visual impairments in employment, ensuring skills training and relevance in the current context through digital assistive devices. As a result, over 71 trainees have had access to internships with inclusive employers, and 24 have successfully gained employment. This is ground-breaking progress, given that only 2% of educated young persons with visual impairments have access to formal employment in Kenya due to enormous barriers that they face.

KBTAs Impact: Education to Employment Pathways

Our programs address more than just skills building; we work to transform the lives of those whom we serve. We are:

✅ Breaking barriers to digital inclusion

✅ Equipping learners with assistive devices to thrive in a competitive job market

✅ Creating pathways from inclusion in schools to inclusive employment

✅ Promoting independence, confidence, and self-worth in visually impaired youth

Each graduate whom we support represents a shift in perception on those with different abilities. We seek to ensure that children and youth with visual impairments are included in every aspect of the society they live in through their abilities to perform like everyone else.

The Role of Our Partners

This life-changing work has been made possible through the dedicated support of our partners:

• Mpesa Foundation and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been instrumental in supporting the onboarding and training of our cohorts, ensuring that the young graduates  have access to the technology, resources, and skills they need to succeed.

• eMobilis, through its partnership with Ajira Digital, has delivered hands-on digital skills training, preparing trainees for opportunities in the online gig economy and digital workspace.

• Through the eMobilis Apprenticeship Program, our graduates have benefited from six-month intensive internship placements across the private and public sectors, gaining critical exposure and experience that is vital for career growth.

Building Inclusive Futures

At KBTA, we are not only training young people, we are shaping inclusive futures. By focusing on the full journey from education to employment, we are enabling youth with visual impairments to become active, self-reliant contributors to their communities and the economy.

Every internship secured, every skill learned, and every barrier broken is a testament to the vision we hold: a future where inclusion is not an exception, but the norm.

Testimonials: I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for the opportunity to serve as an intern at Kilimanjaro Blind Trust Africa from April 2024 to April 2025. It has been an incredibly enriching experience, and I am truly thankful for the trust you placed in me.

Being able to work directly with students and support them through adapted ICT has been a deeply rewarding part of my journey. - Augustine Wabwile