What if, when we met a person with a disability, the first thing we noticed was not the disability, but the person? Too often, society does the opposite. We see the wheelchair before ambition, the limitation before the talent, and the difference before the individual. That way of thinking needs to change. Disability is not inability. A condition may affect how someone moves, communicates, learns or experiences the world, but it does not erase intelligence, creativity, ambition, courage or the desire to contribute. This is one of the strongest messages that emerges from Kagarara’s ‘Muraho Nitwa Kagarara’. His story asks us to look beyond disability and see a human being with a name, a story, struggles, dreams and possibilities. Kagarara’s journey should not simply invite sympathy. It should make us examine our attitudes. It should make parents reflect on how they raise children with disabilities. It should make teachers examine the expectations they place on their students. It should make communities question who they leave behind. And it should make all of us ask: Are we giving people with disabilities a genuine opportunity to show what they can do? A child with a disability is still a child with dreams. That child deserves education, friendship, encouragement and the freedom to discover their talents. They deserve to imagine becoming a teacher, doctor, entrepreneur, artist, athlete, writer, leader—or anything else they aspire to become. Rwanda has made efforts to promote the inclusion of children with disabilities in education and society. But true inclusion is not achieved simply by placing a child in a classroom. School should offer more than access to a building. It should provide knowledge, confidence, relationships, independence and a sense of belonging. And inclusion does not begin at the school gate. It begins at home. Parents play a powerful role in shaping how children see themselves. When a child constantly hears that their disability limits what they can achieve, they may begin to believe it. But when parents say, “You can learn. You can try. You can dream. We believe in you,” they create possibilities. Protecting a child should therefore never become a reason to isolate them. Keeping children with disabilities at home may sometimes come from love or fear, but protection can unintentionally become another barrier. Children need opportunities to go to school, interact with others, build friendships, face challenges and discover their abilities. Families, however, cannot carry this responsibility alone. Society must also change. People with disabilities should not be reduced to objects of pity. They need opportunities, accessible schools and workplaces, and communities that listen to them, respect them and give them a fair chance to participate. This is where Kagarara’s story carries a message beyond his individual experience. For people living with disabilities, his journey can be a reminder not to surrender their ambitions simply because others underestimate them. For the rest of society, his story raises a harder question: How many limitations do we create ourselves? Sometimes, disability is not the greatest obstacle. The greater obstacle may be an inaccessible school, a workplace unwilling to give someone a chance, a family afraid to let a child explore the world, or a community that has already decided what a person cannot achieve. These are barriers created not by disability, but by attitudes. So, when we meet Kagarara—or anyone living with a disability—we should resist the instinct to define them by what appears different. See the person. Listen to their story. Recognise their ability. Give them the opportunity to prove themselves. Imagine being judged before anyone discovers your abilities. Imagine having ambitions while constantly being reminded of your limitations. Imagine knowing that you can contribute, yet repeatedly finding doors closed before you are even allowed to try. Would you want pity? Probably not. You would want a fair chance. That is the message we should take from Muraho Nitwa Kagarara: disability may be part of a person’s story, but it should never become the definition of their entire life. See the person before the limitation. Open the door before assuming they cannot enter. Give them the opportunity before deciding what they cannot achieve. Then let their abilities speak. The writer is a Coordinator in the School of Professional and Executive Programs at the University of Kigali.
