KIR Foundation (NGO), Donates Assistive Devices To Enhance Quality Education For Students With Vision Impairment

In the first week of February, Keeping It Real (KIR) Foundation, a disability-inclusive non-profit celebrated its 14th anniversary of building a lasting legacy by inspiring change through learning with the following projects; setting up of its 91st Reading Corner in in Army Children School 2, a rundown school in the heart of the capital of Rivers State in New GRA Phase 11, Tombia Street, Port- Harcourt, https://bit.ly/ArmyChildrenSchoolGRA.
KIR Foundation also supported 45 students with vision impairment in Port-Harcourt and Jos with assistive devices to enhance the quality of education for blind pupils like Jane a 10-year-old who got a Braille Slate and Stylus. Jane who is currently being rehabilitated in Handmaids Model Primary School for the Sighted and Blind, a personal Braille Slate and Stylus will enable her to learn faster and more effectively.
However, most students with vision-impairment cannot afford the special tools they need to learn successfully because they are quite expensive. These assistive devices such as Braille Slates, Typewriters, Laptops, Tape Recorders, Wireless Keyboard etc; are great because they help students read and do their schoolwork, but because of their prohibitive cost, not all students with disabilities can get them especially those from underserved/disadvantaged families. This is a significant challenge because it means some students with disabilities are unable to learn and participate in school as efficaciously.

Therefore, in 2012, KIR Foundation supported 20 Vision impaired students like Ruth and Esther; two visually impaired sisters with Braille Slates. The two sisters were subsequently trained in Basic ICT skills, after which they got jobs. Thereafter, they gained admission into the university and were once again supported with typewriters and equipment for their business. Today, Esther is a graduate of the Special Education Department from Ignatius Ajuru University. Ruth is a Law graduate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University. The above story is a testament to the power of assistive devices to transform lives. Thus, assistive devices empowers blind and partially-sighted people to fully realize their human rights, offers them access to education, employment and independence!
In the past 14 years, KIR Foundation has donated Educational/Assistive Devices to schools/centres for students with vision impairment.

In Rivers State; TLEC Educational Centre for The Blind, Christy Toby Inclusive School, Handmaids Nursery and Primary School for the Sighted and Blind, Otana Inclusive Centre, Royal Hearts Academy and Ignatius Ajuru University, and in Lagos State; Queens College Yaba, Anglo – Nigerian Welfare Association for the Blind and Federal Nigerian Association for the Blind. So far, KIR Foundation has donated over 89 Braille Slates and Styli, 18 Typewriters,17 laptops, 28 Guide Canes and 55 Wireless keyboards.

On Thursday the 6th of February 2025, the organisation once again continued its tradition of supporting students with vision impairment. This year, KIR Foundation partnered with The Nigerian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (NIFES), Jos Zone to support 20 vision-impaired students like Bahori a 300-level student in University of Jos with 9 Braille Slates and Stylus, 9 Wireless Bluetooth keyboards and 2 Guide canes.

The Special Guest Speaker; Kure Audu Mshelia who lost his sight in 2003, is a MSC Special Education graduate from the University of Jos and a consultant currently working with Nigerian Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC), and an Entrepreneur. He encouraged the 41 students in attendance to have faith in God and themselves, not to give up on their dreams and to be the best in whatever they decide to do, because their skills will create opportunities for them.
Then, the next day, the 7th of February, 16 Vision- impaired pupils (Handmaid Model Primary School for the Sighted and Blind) and 9 students (TLEC Rehabilitation Centre for the Blind) were hosted in the KIR Foundation Inclusive Community Centre in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State. They received the following assistive devices; 1 Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard, 4 Guide canes, 7 Typewriters, and 13 Braille Slates and Stylus. Daniel a 3rd year student of Psychology of the University of Nsukka was very grateful for the Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard because it will make learning and communication easier and more effective.

The Special Guest Speaker, Secondus Barineka, was a beneficiary of KIR Foundation in 2019, when he got a Typewriter that assisted him during his rehabilitation in TLEC and helped him immensely during his national exams and also as a Public Administration student in University of Nigeria Nsukka. He is currently working as a public administrator in his Local Government. He advised the students not to engage with life as victims but with the determination to succeed against all odds no matter the challenges.

Thereafter, Bitebo Gogo, the Volunteer Executive  Director motivated the students to leverage on their abilities to succeed in life.
According to her in the past 14 years, Keeping It Real (KIR) Foundation as a disability inclusive, social impact and non-governmental organization (RC 916541) addresses educational and socio-economic issues with the purpose of inspiring change through learning. The organization gives books, teaches skills and advocates the rights of its beneficiaries, especially those with disabilities to break the cycle of illiteracy, poverty, and inequality by replacing it with a new cycle of empowerment, opportunity, ethical and transformative servant leadership.
has worked with over 204 institutions in Nigeria, Ghana and Rwanda. The organization has reached more than 101,549 people, trained more than 1,893 youth in various market-relevant skills (Digital, Vocational and Soft skills) and donated over 50, 238 books, numerous educational aids, starter kits and farming implements and published; ‘The Young Leader’s Guide’, a leadership manual for young people and ‘It’s About Empathy’, an Explanatory Guide to The Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018. Furthermore, as an organization with a global focus, all its projects are strategically aligned to promoting and implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Bitebo Gogo, encouraged everyone in the society to embrace disability inclusion and ensure that the Disability Act of 2018 is implemented by all stakeholders in Nigeria. She said a disability inclusive Nigeria will be a more developed, prosperous and empathetic country.