Lauren Lee | April 3, 2025 - Kigali, Rwanda

According to the WHO, less than 3% of people with disabilities in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to the assistive technology (AT) they need to thrive. Those who need access to things like wheelchairs often must go without. 

Simply shipping over assistive technology is a short-term, and somewhat short-sighted, solution. But building local capacity and fostering innovation where the need is the greatest can have the most sustainable, long-term impact. 

That’s why Dr. Zerrin Ondin-Fraser envisioned the Global Assistive Technology Innovation (GATI) Hub: to address assistive technology access gap in Sub-Saharan Africa through the lens of human-centered design. 

GATI, also known as the Confluence, is rooted in the belief that innovation should be locally driven, culturally relevant, and equitably designed.

“We’re not solving problems for people with disabilities, we’re building solutions with them,” Ondin-Fraser says. “That’s the only way to design tools that will actually last and scale.”

Ondin-Fraser launched a Vertically Integrated Project (VIP), Global AT Innovation, to engage Georgia Tech students in this long-term vision and to cultivate the bright young students’ cultural competencies. For the uninitiated, VIP is a transformative approach to enhancing higher education by engaging undergraduate and graduate students in ambitious, long-term, large-scale, multidisciplinary project teams that are led by faculty.

Alongside Ondin-Fraser, the project is co-led by Dean Ellen Bassett and Principle Research Scientist Tony Giarrusso. The team targeted Rwanda as the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

The February trip marked team’s second in-country collaboration with Rwandan partners since the project launched in Spring 2024.

GATI brings together undergraduate and graduate students from across disciplines, including Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering, Industrial Design, and Public Policy, for multi-semester, team-based research focused on global assistive technology innovation. 

The culminating trip to Rwanda allowed students to engage directly with partner organizations, conduct field testing, and gain firsthand experience with user-centered, context-aware design in a cross-cultural setting.

Local Partners, Global Solutions

The Confluence team worked closely with the CECHE Foundation, the Rwanda Union for the Blind, and the National Union of Disability Organizations of Rwanda (NUDOR), with site visits in both Kigali and Musanze. The focus: to identify pressing challenges in access to AT and co-develop AT solutions that can be manufactured and maintained locally.

Masaka Resource Center

One of the most critical needs emerged at the Masaka Resource Centre for the Blind, a residential school for adults that teaches literacy and vocational skills run by Rwanda Union for the blind, was Braille slates and styluses. 

While students learn to read and write Braille using this tool, the center has only a limited supply unable to provide them to the graduating students to take home which cause learned skills to regression over time.

“Sending over a shipment of slates might sound helpful,” Ondin-Fraser explains, “but it doesn’t address the long-term problem. It creates dependency. Our goal is to co-design a slate and stylus that can be manufactured using local materials and production methods.”

CHECHE Foundation

That same philosophy guided the team’s work with the CECHE Foundation, an early education center that supports children with disabilities. The Foundation’s personnel had created adaptive seating from cardboard to help children with cerebral palsy sit upright; but the chairs were immobile and difficult to manage. 

Ondin-Fraser and her team worked with staff and parents to co-design a chassis that transformed these cardboard supports into lightweight, durable wheelchairs. The design not only meets the mobility needs of children and their caregivers; it can also be reproduced and repaired locally using basic materials and tools.

A Model for Sustainable Innovation

The Confluence is still in its early stages, but its potential reach is immense. It is well-positioned to increase access to locally appropriate and sustainable solutions, and reflects the overall values of Georgia Tech. 

“[The project] is something that can serve as a model for other countries and other areas around the world,” says Tony Giarusso. “We’re helping to make connections, provide information, and make differences in the lives of people who are usually forgotten.”

“This is not a charity model” concludes Ondin-Fraser. “We are facilitating partnerships and learning experiences that empower local communities to lead innovation, and preparing Georgia Tech students to think globally, act locally, and design inclusively.”