Empowering Indigenous Women with Disabilities

Florence Ntisai is a proud Indigenous woman with disability from the Samburu community in Samburu County, Kenya. Her journey in the Indigenous Women Council (IWC) movement began when she was a young woman searching for identity, belonging, and purpose.

Breaking Through Exclusion

At that time, the space for young women with disabilities was almost non-existent. They faced multiple layers of exclusion - from cultural stigma to inaccessibility, from being silenced to being underestimated. As a young indigenous woman with disability, she knew she had a voice, but she wasn't sure where or how it could be heard.

Then she found IWC - and her life changed.

Transformative Empowerment

The Indigenous Women Council shaped her into the woman she is today. It gave her space, strength, and sisterhood. It taught her that disability is not a barrier to leadership, and that her story, her experiences, and her voice mattered. IWC helped her rise from the margins and step into leadership with confidence.

Creating Inclusive Spaces

Because of that empowerment, she took the bold step to register the Kimunyak Differently Abled Initiative (KDAI) - an organization rooted in inclusion, rights, and dignity for persons with disabilities, especially indigenous women and girls.

Today, she serves as the Executive Director of KDAI, and through their work, she carries forward the values and vision she learned from IWC. They educate, they advocate, they train, and they mobilize. They work to ensure that no one - regardless of ability - is left behind.

"My story is living proof that when young Indigenous women with disabilities are empowered, we don't just rise - we empower others. I am not just part of this movement. I am a product of it."

Advocacy and Impact

Through KDAI, Florence has created platforms for indigenous women and girls with disabilities to:

Building an Inclusive Movement

Florence's work demonstrates that true inclusivity means creating spaces where indigenous women with disabilities can not only participate but lead. Her journey from feeling excluded to becoming a respected leader shows the transformative power of the Indigenous Women Council's approach to empowerment.

"Disability is not inability - it's a different ability. When we create inclusive spaces, we unlock the incredible potential that exists within every indigenous woman and girl, regardless of their physical abilities."

Florence continues to inspire a new generation of indigenous women with disabilities to claim their space, use their voice, and lead with confidence.