For many young people with disabilities, opportunity remains limited not because of a lack of ambition, but because systems are not always designed to include them. For Ange Marie Nirere, a young deaf woman from Nyagatare District in Rwanda, limited access to communication, employment, and economic opportunity often meant being excluded from the systems intended to support young people’s progress.
Ange saw possibility in a needle, thread, and a manual sewing machine. Determined to build a different future for herself and her family, she began tailoring, earning enough to meet immediate needs while developing a skill that would become the foundation of her enterprise.
Her business, BIENVENU AND DRESS WELL, gradually became more than a source of income. It became a pathway to dignity, a platform for leadership, and a space where other young people with hearing disabilities could learn, connect, and imagine new possibilities.
Ange’s journey deepened when she joined the African Youth Panel (AYP), an initiative implemented through a partnership between TrustAfrica and the Mastercard Foundation. Through AYP, she accessed mentorship, leadership development, training, and opportunities to engage with broader networks. The experience strengthened both her confidence and her ability to connect her personal journey to the wider barriers facing young people with disabilities.
Joining the African Youth Panel marked a turning point in Ange’s personal and professional journey. Through the program, she received training in Participatory Action Research, leadership, and community engagement. These experiences equipped her with practical knowledge to strengthen her business while expanding her community advocacy.
Participatory Action Research helped Ange look beyond her own experience and identify the root causes of unemployment and exclusion affecting young people with disabilities in her community. Through her community research on access to finance, she found that many young people had the ambition to succeed but lacked the resources, skills, and opportunities needed to turn their dreams into sustainable livelihoods.
These insights changed how she saw her business. It was no longer only a way to earn income. It could also become a practical response to exclusion.
Reflecting on how AYP shaped her confidence and advocacy, Ange explains: “Joining the African Youth Panel marked a turning point in my personal and professional achievements. Through the program, I received mentorship and training in Participatory Action Research, leadership, and community engagement. These experiences equipped me with practical knowledge to strengthen my business while expanding my community advocacy.”
The program also encouraged Ange to develop a culture of saving and reinvestment. Using savings from her AYP stipend, she purchased three manual tailoring machines, fabric, thread, a dress form, and other equipment. She was also able to pay rent and cover other business-related costs, helping BIENVENU AND DRESS WELL become more stable and better positioned to support her family and train other young people.
Describing the impact of BIENVENU AND DRESS WELL, Ange links her enterprise to both personal progress and family stability: “BIENVENU AND DRESS WELL has transformed not only my own life but also the well-being of my family. Before establishing my enterprise, opportunities for me as a deaf woman in Nyagatare District were extremely limited because of barriers in communication and employment.”
Through her business, Ange now contributes more consistently to her family’s well-being. Her income supports her child’s education, including school fees and school materials. It also helps her pay for mutual health insurance, provide food, and meet other essential household needs. This increased stability has strengthened her ability to care for her family and changed how she is perceived in her community—from a young woman facing exclusion to a respected entrepreneur, trainer, and community advocate.
Ange monthly income has moved from 100000 to 300000 RWF, more than 200% earnings. This income has enabled her to support her household, reinvest in her business, and expand the reach of her work.
Ange’s vision extends beyond personal progress. As her business expanded, she adopted AYP’s community-driven approach to create opportunities for other young people with disabilities facing similar barriers.
She opened her shop as a learning space for young people with hearing disabilities, combining vocational training with mentorship on reproductive health, life skills, and decision-making. Through her work, she has reached more than 50 young people, and six of the young people she trained have continued in tailoring.
For Ange, tailoring has become both a livelihood and a platform for mentorship: “I realized tailoring could do more than make clothes. So, I opened my shop to young people in my community. I teach them two things side by side: sewing skills and avoiding early pregnancy. While we sew, we talk openly about making smart choices, setting goals, and protecting our future before starting a family, especially for young people with hearing disabilities. For me, both lessons go together. A skill gives income. Knowledge gives power to choose.”
Participants have gained practical tailoring skills as well as greater knowledge about reproductive health and informed life choices. Young people are better equipped to understand the risks associated with early pregnancy and unprotected sexual contact and to make more responsible decisions about their futures.
Nsengiyumva Vianey, a nurse at Nyagatare Health Centre, points to the broader value of Ange’s work in improving awareness and access to sexual and reproductive health services: “Nirere’s role in the mitigation of early pregnancies among young people has brought remarkable impacts in terms of awareness of reproductive health and getting SRH services.”
Ange’s success challenges stereotypes about disability by showing that young people with hearing disabilities can become entrepreneurs, trainers, employers, and community leaders when they have access to the right support and opportunities.
Her visibility as an entrepreneur has also contributed to broader changes in how persons with disabilities, particularly deaf people, are perceived in her community. Her work shows that disability does not prevent young people from contributing meaningfully to economic and social development. Instead, it reveals how much becomes possible when barriers are reduced and young people are trusted to lead.
Ange’s work gained international recognition when TrustAfrica nominated her to present her disability-inclusive and youth-led model at the 6th African Philanthropy Conference in Egypt.
The opportunity gave Ange a platform to show how locally led initiatives can promote dignified work and create opportunities for young people with disabilities. It also increased the visibility of her work among development partners and organizations interested in youth-led and disability-inclusive approaches to community development.
For Ange, the opportunity represented more than recognition. It showed that solutions developed by young people in local communities can contribute to wider conversations about development, inclusion, and philanthropy across Africa.
Her international presentation also helped position her as a role model for disability-inclusive development and demonstrated how community-based approaches can be adapted and replicated in other contexts.
The biggest lesson Ange has learned is that economic empowerment and social transformation can happen together. Tailoring is not only a livelihood; it can also be a platform for mentoring, educating, and empowering young people with disabilities.
Her story offers an important lesson for International Youth Day: young people closest to exclusion are not only describing barriers; they are designing practical responses to them. When they are supported with skills, mentorship, accessible communication, networks, and resources, they can create dignified work for themselves while opening pathways for others.
Ange believes governments, donors, and development partners should expand access to vocational training, entrepreneurship support, inclusive financing, and leadership opportunities for persons with disabilities. She also calls for greater investment in accessible communication, particularly sign language interpretation, so that deaf people can fully participate in education, employment, entrepreneurship, and leadership.
