Three decades of serving blind people in Rwanda: RUB departing Kanimba bids farewell

After 30 years of unwavering dedication, Dr. Donatilla Kanimba, the driving force behind the Rwanda Union of the Blind (RUB), is stepping into retirement. At a heartfelt farewell event in Kigali on March 21, 2025, partners, colleagues, and members of the blind community gathered to honour the woman whose work has reshaped opportunities for visually impaired Rwandans. From securing access to education to expanding RUB into a nationwide network, Dr. Kanimba’s legacy is etched into the lives of thousands.

Rwanda Union of the Blind was established in 1995 with Dr. Kanimba being the one who played a very big role and since then she dedicated her full life to the cause of the blind.

Through her hard work, she managed to make sure that people who are blind in Rwanda went to school and when Gatagara Special School was not able to offer examinations to blind people, Donatilla succeeded in convincing the government to prepare national exams for the blind.

After sitting their primary examination, they had no secondary school to go to but Dr. Kanimba woke up and moved to make sure that Gahini Secondary School started admitting students with visual impairment until the first group was admitted at the former National University of Rwanda in 2008.

“You can just imagine how the education of children with visual impairment has progressed.  So now, as I’m talking today, people who are blind, many of them are educated, many of them have jobs through the hard work of Dr. Donatilla, many of them are musicians like these ones who have been singing for us, many of them are news reporters, many of them are involved in many activities through the hard work of our Executive Director”, Dr Betty Mukarwego, President of the Rwanda Union of the Blind, said.

As she has gone for retirement, Rwanda Union of the Blind has been expanded with 64 branches all over the country made up by persons who are blind who come together, work together, try to improve their lives. 

She gave advice to many people who lost their vision when they were old and participated in the establishment of Masaka Rehabilitation Centre, the only rehabilitation centre in the country, supporting children or persons with visual impairment.

“Many blind people say that if Donatilla had not come to pave way for them, to open doors for them, today they would either be dead, begging in the streets, nothing. Children were not getting any national examination. And so after completing primary education, those who are blind went back home. Now going back home, it means that you went without a certificate and that is zero work”, Dr Mukarwego added.

Clarisse from Danish Association of the Blind, one of key RUB partners, lauded the work of giving birth to RUB, fighting for rights for the blind and partially sighted persons in Rwanda and internationally.

“Now, you have retired, and RUB is no longer a baby. You have raised it well, and it consists of 64 local branches, so many dedicated members, skilled staff members, and strong democratic structures. And you are still there as a strong advisor to RUB. You are retired, but you will continue to be a role model to all of us, and we all hold the greatest respect for you and all the changes that you have done throughout your years”, she said.

Francois Xavier Karangwa, Executive Director of UPHLS, a nongovernmental organization involved in health promotion and advocacy for persons with disabilities fighting against HIV and AIDS, appreciated Dr. Kanimba’s contribution to the operations of UPHLS from 2006 until today as one of the key individuals who provided technical support and guidance. Even after he retires, he will remain someone the organization will continue to rely on to help it achieve its goals.

“I also appreciate him for the achievements that RUB has today being among the organizations that have empowered their members. Today, the fact that it is an organization with four people holding PhDs [Dr. Suubi Patrick, Dr. James Ndahiro, Dr. Betty Mukarwego, Dr. Donatilla Kanimba] is something to be proud of. It is a sign that RUB is a well-organized organization and a role model among organizations of people with disabilities”, he emphasized.

Despite Kanimba’s official retirement, her commitment remains steadfast: “I have retired from my office at RUB but I’m ready for any work that you will call me to do. If you give me work, I will do it. I will only be tired when I cannot get up and if I will still think and I cannot get up, I will tell you to bring me to my bedside. Thank you to all the people who made my work possible, all of our partners, and friends from Rwanda. It’s not just me, but all of us”, she said.

The journey towards the establishment of RUB

The fifth child in a family of eight, Kanimba was born in Gisagara District in the Southern Province of Rwanda, but the family had to flee to Burundi when she was two, to escape the 1959 Rwanda civil war.

When she lost her sight while in a refugee camp in Burundi, a benevolent couple working as Salvation Army Church missionaries among the refugees arranged for Kanimba to be sent to Kenya to attain an education.

In Kenya – where there are facilities for those with visual impairments – she was able to attend primary and secondary school and go to university. She graduated with degrees in Sociology and Governance from the University of Nairobi.

But while she realised she was lucky to have had the opportunity to study, she kept worrying about the plight of those back “home”, who had nobody and no structures to support them. So she decided to take matters into her own hands, and change that.

While at the university, she started engaging two Rwandan classmates with the idea of forming an organisation to help those with visual impairments, similar to what she had seen in Kenya; The Kenya Union of the Blind.

After graduating from the university in 1980, she started working with the Kenya Union for the Blind as the women’s programmes coordinator.

During this period, together with her former classmates, they got to work on starting an organisation that would work with the government to help the visually impaired people in Rwanda.

In 1995 Kanimba got to do what she had long dreamed of. She managed to found the Rwanda Union of the Blind and two years later, she moved back to the land of her birth, to run it