How a Kenyan Disabled Woman Is Helping Deaf People Stay Safe in Emergencies

Maryanne Emomeri is a Kenyan disability advocate who not only discusses new strategies for inclusion with politicians but also uses her skills as a software designer to develop solutions that improve independent living for people with disabilities. She is currently working on SKIO, an app that enables Deaf people to identify sounds in case of a crisis.

This commitment to change begins with education.

Maryanne Emomeri was born in Kenya and lost her ability to speak at age two after a severe case of meningitis. Despite a doctor’s recommendation for mainstream education, schools refused to admit her and assigned her to a special unit. Determined to join regular classes, Emomeri took the initiative to attend, eventually convincing a teacher to give her a chance after noticing her abilities.

Despite being in regular classes, Emomeri struggled to make friends and faced rejection and mockery from peers, leading to conflicts.

At home, Emomeri’s parents provided strong support, though they were sometimes overprotective. During this time, Emomeri found comfort in writing as a form of self-expression.

A new way of activism

Emomeri recalls the early childhood challenges at school as probably the reason why she felt that her way of helping herself and other disabled people was different from traditional activism. After having had physical arguments with other children and realizing she was doing more harm than good, she sat down and let out her frustration in writing a book called “The punching bag story of a little girl with a disability,“ which she published on Kindle. Although she doesn’t talk about the book much, thinks it is not her best work, and is considering rewriting it from an adult perspective, she thinks it sparked her interest in helping other disabled people through a new kind of activism—one that focuses on building solutions rather than confrontation.

Writing made her realize that words and constructive actions were more useful than fighting. She recognized that advancing disability rights requires a strategic, joint approach that engages governments, organizations, communities and the private sector to influence policies and generate lasting change. This involves building trust and executing practical inclusion, allowing disabled people to shape decisions that affect them.    

Family support and the first steps into advocacy

Maryanne Emomeri’s mother noticed her interest in learning more about other people with disabilities and their rights, and supported her by launching an initiative to encourage parents in her village to send their children to school. “Most of the time, I’d go with her to the households, and I saw many disabled children living in very unpleasant circumstances.  Some were locked in houses alone for the whole day, and others were chained to their beds. This just affected me so much, and so I decided that when I grow up, I will try and find ways to fight for their rights,“ she remembers.

The strategy to help disabled people

When Emomeri wanted to go to university, she was told the campus wasn’t equipped well enough to meet her needs. So she ended up studying at a college for technology for people with diverse disabilities. “This was like an answered prayer,“ she recalls. “Because that way I could finally find out about everyone’s different needs and necessities, and what exactly needed to be changed,” she recalls. She then volunteered at the United Disabled Persons of Kenya to learn more about the disability movement and disability rights, and to communicate with people to understand their strengths and challenges. That was when she got the idea for her current project.

Developing SKIO

While at college, there was a fire. Emomeri was sharing the dorm with some Deaf students. “While everyone was screaming and running, my Deaf roommates had no idea what was going on,” Emomeri recalls. “I had to alert them and let them know what they had to do to get themselves into safety.” After that incident, SKIO was born in Maryanne Emomeri’s mind.

SKIO is an app that allows Deaf people to detect sounds in real time, such as fire alarms, improving their safety during emergencies. From the start, Emomeri and her team engaged the Deaf community, gathering their feedback and needs throughout the research and development of the app. Emomeri highlights that SKIO uses AI to classify sounds but notes the challenge of obtaining disability-representative data for effective machine learning.

Emomeri’s story demonstrates that inclusive progress demands concrete action.

As much as Emomeri is proud of her achievements, she understands that real inclusion happens when disabled people take action and shape their own futures, especially as AI becomes increasingly influential. She believes their involvement is crucial.

“One of my important tasks as an advocate who is also a software developer is encouraging more disabled people to become AI engineers. Because the more they put their views into the designs they create, the more these designs become normal, and the more representative data is gathered,“ she says.

For Emomeri, real inclusion is empowered by change, and although she knows there is a long way to go, she hopes for a future where young disabled people will not struggle the same way she did at school, and if AI can help, then she thinks we should be part of it, and not wait until non-disabled people alone shape what could be a tool bringing us closer to a more inclusive future.