Abiodun Onyeniran lost his sight completely at age 21. At 28, he finally makes it into the University of Lagos, only to realise the campus is not equipped to fully support the needs of blind students. So, Abiodun becomes an accidental activist, creating a grassroots system that helps visually impaired students navigate exams for 5 years—until the university decides his solution is a threat to their policy and shuts it down.

Show Notes

Sources:

• 2017 National Policy on Inclusive Education
• 2018 Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities Prohibition Act
• 2023 Study on Nigerian Visually Impaired Students’ Computer Skills
• The Tweet

Acknowledgements:

This episode would not be possible without support from Fondation CHANEL, Ford Foundation, and Luminate.

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Last week, one of Radio Workshop’s producers was featured on the Sound School podcast. Sound School, hosted by Rob Rosenthal, spoke to Kabir Jugram about his podcast episode “Nothing Wrong, Bro,” which explores the mental health struggles of young men in South Africa’s most densely populated city, Johannesburg.

Twenty-three-year-old reporter Kabir Jagram says young men in South Africa are stoic. Holding back emotions is a survival mechanism in a country wracked with youth unemployment. And that can lead to serious mental health issues. So, how then, as a young man himself struggling with expressing feelings, did Kabir manage to produce a captivating radio documentary about emotions?

Support the work of Radio Workshop by donating today.

Support the show

We can only do this work because of your support. You can make a donation at radioworkshop.org.

Aphiwe's grandmother taught her to flatten cardboard boxes when she was just a kid, selling the tiny "baby bundles" and saving the money in a piggy bank. Now 19, Aphiwe wears her grandmother's old work clothes and does the job alone — supporting her entire family. Waste pickers like Aphiwe recover 80% of South Africa's recycled plastic and paper, yet earn poverty wages in an industry that depends on them but won't protect them.

Shownotes

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Sources

• Occupational Groups in the Informal Economy: Waste Pickers
• Infrastructure News - Stop Pretending Waste Pickers Don’t Exist
• Nature News - South Africa’s waste pickers deserve more recognition for environmental role
• Newcastillian News - SA’s Recycling Lie: What Really Happens to Your Rubbish

Acknowledgements

This episode would not be possible without support from the UMI Fund. Special thanks to Hindenburg for supporting our projects across Africa with audio editing software.

Support the show

We can only do this work because of your support. You can make a donation at radioworkshop.org.