.

Born to Bireckmas Bikenyeri and Pauline Nyirakate, Leonidas Ndayisaba is one of the best sports journalists in the country. He was born 1981 in Nyagatare district in the eastern province. Having lost his sight to cataract disease at around the age of 3, this misfortune didn’t hold him down.

Saturday, May 05, 2012
Leonidas Ndayisaba

Born to Bireckmas Bikenyeri and Pauline Nyirakate, Leonidas Ndayisaba is one of the best sports journalists in the country. He was born 1981 in Nyagatare district in the eastern province. Having lost his sight to cataract disease at around the age of 3, this misfortune didn’t hold him down. He attended Gatagara Primary School, Groupe Scholaire de Gahini for his secondary school from where he joined the National University of Rwanda in Butare where he graduated in Journalism and Communication. He talked to The Sunday Times Martin Bishop about his early childhood, career and future plans.Growing up as a visually impaired kid, were you teased and bullied at school by other kidsDuring my Primary school at Gatagara, most of my school mates were also visually impaired, and it was a strict school managed by Catholic priests. So, I didn’t face any form of discrimination or mean jokes. At Gahini I was teased but I can’t say it was because of my condition, kids like playing mean jokes everywhere, I didn’t take any personal.What’s the biggest challenge you faced growing upDuring my secondary school education, teachers who taught me weren’t trained to teach visually impaired people and also we lacked materials to help us learning. So I had to struggle so hard to keep up with the rest of the class.Why did you opt for journalism?I chose journalism because I want to get the correct information to people. I want people to be informed in an unbiased manner, so that they can form their own opinions.How do you manage to compile all the information that you later broadcast on your sports programI listen to different international radio stations, TV and on the internet using audio programs. As for local news, I interview players, coaches and fans. I also interact with different sports journalists and we share info.Who are your favorite soccer team and playerI love the Brazilian National Team, as for a favorite player, it’s really hard to decide, but I think Kaka of Real Madrid is my guy.Are you married, If not, what are the qualities of your ideal womanA woman who is God fearing , has a love of kids, grandkids, a woman who has the same respect for me as I have for her.Where do you see yourself in five yearsDudes are you blind? I’m visually impaired, I can’t see.hahahahaha!martin.bishop18@yahoo.com