USAID Strengthening Equitable Education for the Deaf (SEED) Activity
Overview
In 2024, AccessEnable led the successful design of the Strengthening Equitable Education for the Deaf (SEED) Activity, locally known as Twige Ururimi rw’Amarenga (“Let’s Learn Sign Language”). Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID/Rwanda) with a total value of USD 5 million, the project marked a major milestone in improving access, quality, and inclusion for deaf and hard-of-hearing learners across Rwanda.
AccessEnable initiated, wrote, and mobilized the winning proposal, bringing together a strong consortium of partners: Juárez & Associates (J&A) as prime implementer and the Rwanda National Union of the Deaf (RNUD) as the key local partner. The organization played a central role in strategic planning, consortium coordination, and technical leadership, shaping the activity’s vision and ensuring its early success during implementation.
A Locally Led Vision for Inclusive Education
The SEED Activity was designed to improve reading outcomes for more than 1,100 deaf and hard-of-hearing learners from pre-primary through lower primary. The project addressed systemic barriers by focusing on three core objectives:
Empowering parents, youth, and communities to learn Rwandan Sign Language (RSL) and support literacy at home.
Improving bilingual education quality through teacher training, accessible curricula, and digital learning materials in RSL, Kinyarwanda, and English.
Strengthening national systems and policies to ensure long-term inclusion of deaf learners within Rwanda’s education system.
AccessEnable’s Leadership and Technical Contribution
AccessEnable led the design of the theory of change, ensuring the activity linked community engagement, bilingual pedagogy, and systemic reform. During implementation, the organization oversaw teacher training, curriculum development, and digital inclusion components under Intermediate Result 2 (IR 2), the project’s technical core.
Key outcomes under AccessEnable’s leadership included:
Developing and digitizing Teaching and Learning Materials (TLMs) with RSL videos, captions, and interactive activities.
Training more than 400 teachers across 20 inclusive and specialized schools in bilingual deaf-education pedagogy.
Supporting the distribution of 94 RSL digital storybooks, reaching thousands of learners through platforms like the REB e-Learning Hub and Bloom Library.
Establishing Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to sustain weekly teacher capacity-building sessions aligned with Rwanda’s national CPD program.
These initiatives aimed to bridge classroom practice with national policy, creating a sustainable model for deaf education in Rwanda.
Strengthening Systems and Policy Frameworks
AccessEnable and its partners worked closely with MINEDUC, REB, NESA, and the National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) to strengthen policy alignment and data systems. The project contributed to national advocacy for the official recognition of Rwandan Sign Language (RSL) and supported integration of disability data within the Special Needs and Inclusive Education Management Information System (SNIE MIS).
Through collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the project aimed to pilot early-screening mechanisms for children with hearing disabilities, laying the groundwork for improved early identification and referral systems.
Community Empowerment and Youth Leadership
AccessEnable’s consortium aimed to train 45 deaf youth instructors as RSL trainers and mentors who supported schools, parents, and younger learners. Over 2,000 parents and caregivers participated in community-based workshops combining sign-language learning with inclusive-parenting and literacy activities.
These engagements helped reduce isolation, strengthen family communication, and foster pride and visibility among Rwanda’s Deaf community—outcomes that continue to shape inclusion efforts nationwide.
Innovation Through Digital Accessibility
Building on AccessEnable’s expertise in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and accessible digital tools, SEED introduced cost-effective ways to make educational materials inclusive. The team digitized books into RSL, produced sign-language glossaries, and created WhatsApp learning groups to distribute content directly to families, leveraging Rwanda’s 87 percent smartphone penetration rate.
This hybrid approach, combining technology, community networks, and local language pedagogy, became a model for future inclusive-education programs across the region.
A Lasting Legacy
The SEED Activity demonstrated that African-led, woman-founded organizations can design and deliver large-scale, donor-funded programs with excellence. Through strong partnerships and evidence-based implementation, AccessEnable helped Rwanda take concrete steps toward establishing RSL-based bilingual education as a national standard.
“Language is a human right — and it’s time for deaf people to realize theirs,” said Yvette Iyadede, Founder & CEO of AccessEnable. “This project proved that inclusion works when it is locally led. By empowering parents, teachers, and youth, we built the foundation for a generation of deaf learners who can read, sign, and thrive.”
About the SEED Activity
Full name: Strengthening Equitable Education for the Deaf (SEED) / USAID Twige Ururimi rw’Amarenga
Total value: USD 5 million
Duration: 4 years (AccessEnable led proposal design)
Implementation period: 7 months, before the USAID global shutdown paused activities worldwide
Consortium partners: Juárez & Associates (J&A), Rwanda National Union of the Deaf (RNUD)
