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Tuko Pamoja (We are Together): Women With Disabilities Leading

Published: May 29, 2025

Country: Kenya

Dr. Evan Dean’s Outbound Fellowship Experience

Dr. Evan Dean is a US Outbound Fellow in the FY2023 Professional Fellows Program (PFP) on Inclusive Civic Engagement. This program is sponsored by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is administered by the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts Boston in partnership with Humanity and Inclusion (HI). The following blog post was contributed by guest author Dr. Evan Dean.

Dr. Dean, Associate Director at the University of Kansas Center on Disabilities (KUCD), has dedicated his career to supporting communities build opportunities and supports for youth with disabilities to live the life they want. One aspect of his work focuses on promoting youth self-determination and employment through the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI). The SDLMI guides individuals through three phases to set, work toward, and reflect on their goals: setting personal goals (Phase 1), creating actionable plans (Phase 2), and reflecting on their progress (Phase 3). This model empowers individuals to take control of their lives by setting and achieving personal goals, ultimately fostering self-determination and leadership.

In December 2024, Evan traveled to Kenya as a US Outbound Fellow to collaborate with his PFP Fellow mentee, Elizabeth Nyabiage (Liz), a leader in the Kenya Network of Women and Girls with Disabilities (the Network). Liz has worked tirelessly with women and girls with disabilities, empowering them develop leadership skills and become active participants in their communities. As part of Liz’s follow-on project, she had already trained 30 young women and girls across four counties in Kenya to explore their leadership potential and work towards exercising leadership and engage in local community issues.

Building on Liz’s work, Evan and Liz’s project aimed to take leadership training a step further by integrating the SDLMI’s goal-setting framework. Together, they facilitated goal-setting workshops for 35 women across three counties—Mombasa, Nairobi, and Kajiado. These workshops had two goals: 1) to help the women identify local issues they wanted to address, and 2) to raise awareness of their work among policymakers and stakeholders. The project also fostered a partnership between the Network and KUCD, increasing the Network’s capacity to support its members.

The workshops reinforced the idea that leadership and self-determination are skills that improve with practice. By introducing the SDLMI framework, Evan and Liz provided participants with a structured approach to goal setting, action planning, and self-reflection. This model equips individuals to continue addressing community issues and foster leadership in their communities long after the workshops end.

Empowering Change: Goal Setting in Action

Through these workshops, participants identified key community issues and developed actionable plans to address them. In Kajiado, a group of girls with disabilities, aged 12 to 14, shared their aspirations of becoming teachers, doctors, and lawyers (Figure 1). Many expressed their desire to advocate for girls who were out of school due to early marriage or lack of support.

A large group of individuals stands in a yard, posing for the camera. One white American man is at the back of the group. Most of the group members, who are young Kenyan women, are wearing school uniform sweaters and skirts. One woman in the front of the group is standing with crutches.
Figure 1: Evan and Liz pose for a group photo with young girls in Kajiado, joined by two Network members.

The goal-setting process was deeply insightful for participants. One woman described it as a "road map to setting goals." However, the intensive three-hour sessions proved challenging. Based on feedback, future trainings will be adapted into shorter, more manageable segments. Typically, facilitators support students to work through the SDLMI over 16 shorter sessions, which may be more feasible in the Kenyan context moving forward.

The sessions had tangible outcomes. In one of the sessions, Liz and Evan collaborated with a team of women to draft a grant proposal—demonstrating how goal-setting can lead to meaningful, real-world outcomes (Figure 2). As a result, participants left the sessions equipped with practical tools to continue their advocacy efforts and personal development.

Raising Awareness and Expanding Partnerships

Beyond the workshops, Evan and Liz worked to raise awareness about their project and expand the capacity of the Network through partnerships with local advocacy organizations. In Mombasa, they met with Jemima Kutata, a community leader and founder of a self-help group for women with disabilities. Jemima also works with the Association of the Physically Disabled of Kenya (APDK), which runs various projects to support people with physical disabilities at the community level.

APDK also operates a sheltered workshop in Bombolulu, a neighborhood in Mombasa, where Evan and Liz spent considerable time reflecting on the similarities between these workshops in the US and Kenya. They discussed the progression over time, the need to phase them out, and the contextual realities of what phasing them out means for people with disabilities who have lived in these workshops for many years.

In addition to their work in Mombasa, Evan and Liz engaged with several other organizations, including the Collaborative of Women in Development and the Human Protection and Justice Organization, which works on programs aimed at preventing violent extremism in the coastal region.

Their efforts continued in Nairobi, where they connected with organizations like Women Challenged to Challenge, United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK), Daughters of Kenya, Differently Talented Society of Kenya, Down Syndrome Society of Kenya, and CBM Global. These meetings not only expanded awareness of the project but also led to new collaborations. One particularly exciting development was a partnership with Daughters of Kenya, which had not previously worked with women with disabilities. After connecting on LinkedIn, they arranged a face-to-face meeting, which opened the door to shared funding proposals that could support both organizations’ missions.

Additionally, the team participated in an interview for the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation’s (KBC) Abled Differently program, further amplifying the project’s reach and impact in national media. The interview recording can be accessed with this link.

A group of individuals, including men and women, posing for a group photo in an indoor setting with banners and posters in the background. Some individuals are seated, while others stand behind them, all smiling at the camera. A few participants use mobility aids. The setting appears to be a professional or educational event.
Figure 2: Evan and Liz met with young women with disabilities in Nairobi County who are part of Liz’s follow-up project.

Learning and Growth: Insights from Kenya

Throughout his trip, Evan gained a deeper understanding of Kenyan culture and the challenges people with disabilities face. Conversations with local leaders and disability advocates revealed the difficulty of getting local governments to address the most pressing issues affecting people’s lives, such as inadequate infrastructure and lack of accessible services. Many people with disabilities spoke about the government's failure to provide sufficient support, highlighting the need for continued advocacy.

Evan was also struck by the influence of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Coming from a country that has a structure and services for supporting people with disabilities but has not ratified the convention, it was fascinating to witness how the CRPD galvanized the work of advocates, service providers, and policymakers in Kenya. For example, the United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK) spoke about how they used the CRPD to advocate for policy changes, and the Differently Talented Society of Kenya (DTSK) incorporated key principles from the CRPD into their brochures outlining their objectives and services.

Liz, too, shared how the language in the CRPD helped her recognize that she and other individuals with disabilities were not broken, but rather in need of support to succeed in life—just like everyone else. These conversations highlighted the power of such declarations and the global impact they can have.

One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the Sheldrick Trust Elephant Sanctuary at Nairobi National Park (Figures 3). While not directly related to the work of disability advocacy, it provided Evan with an inspiring example of how a community can come together to support others live the life they want—similar to the work being done for women and girls with disabilities in Kenya.

A white man wearing glasses and a baseball cap takes a selfie with a young elephant in the background. An elephant is standing very close behind him, with caretakers wearing green in the background.
Figure 3: Evan at the Sheldrick Trust Elephant Sanctuary.

A Shared Vision for the Future

Evan and Liz are committed to continuing their collaboration and strengthening the capacity of the Network (Figure 4). Looking ahead, they are working together to customize the SDLMI model to support women and girls with disabilities in their leadership development, with funding from the Ford Foundation. One organization, the Federation of Deaf Women Empowerment Network (FedWen-K), which empowers Deaf women, has expressed interest in using the SDLMI to support their Deaf Clubs. These clubs help young women who are Deaf build confidence and leadership skills, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the work.

In the coming months, Evan and his team at KUCD will continue to support the Network in adapting the model and training facilitators, ensuring that the women involved have the tools and resources to lead and advocate for their communities.

The collaboration between Evan, Liz, the Network, and KUCD is a powerful example of how partnerships can create meaningful change. Together, they are helping women with disabilities in Kenya strengthen their voices, exercise leadership, and work toward a brighter future for all.

A group of people, predominantly women, are seated in a circle outdoors, engaged in discussion. The background features a banner with the logo and name of “FedWen-K” (Federation of Deaf Women Empowerment Network).
Figure 4: Evan and Liz participating in a planning meeting with members of the Kenya Network of Women and Girls with Disabilities.