The focus of this project was to design products for people with disabilities with the intent of assisting them combat extreme poverty. Extreme poverty is an overwhelming challenge for those living with disabilities in the Kasese District of Western Uganda, which is the region where this project’s efforts were focused. Crucially, this project focused on designing tools, mobility aids, etc. with the people who would be using them, not for them.
This project’s immediate focus helped the researchers involved examine the larger question of how innovation can be an effective tool in terms of attaining direct outputs and outcomes for a specific goal.
This project, which features the work of nine undergraduate students and one master student, is the result of a two-year collaborative partnership funded by the IDRC through the Canadian Small Partnerships Grant. Multiple stakeholders were involved in this project, including CanUgan, a Canadian-Ugandan not-for-profit focused on assisting people with disabilities in Kasese, and Carleton’s READ Institute, which promotes accessibility both on campus and around the world. Read more about our partners here.