African Voices Changemakers, the Globacom-sponsored magazine programme on CNN International, will this weekend delight its viewers with inspirational stories of two outstanding Africans who are making waves across the continent.
The guests are Crystal Chigbu, a Nigerian social entrepreneur and activist who founded Irede Foundation after her daughter was born without a shinbone and Tendeyi Katsiga, an award-winning engineer who founded Deaftronics that manufactures affordable solar powered hearing aids, made for people with hearing loss.
Chigbu’s foundation provides recycled prosthetics and other walking aids to children 18 and under. Through the foundation, Crystal has provided 120 prosthetic limbs for 82 children across 17 states in Nigeria, while other states will be visited in due course.
A 2002 graduate of Biochemistry from University of Lagos, Nigeria, Chigbu has received several awards for her work including the Life Transformation Award from Wise Women Awards. The Ebony Life TV sponsored Sisterhood Award for Philanthropist of the year (2014) and the Naija Diamonds Award (2014) sponsored by Diamond Bank.
Tendekayi Katsiga is a Zimbabwe-born electronic engineer. Based in Botswana, Katsiga decided to develop hearing aids when he met a 15-year-old boy who had difficulty in communication and could not afford a functional hearing. This dream became a reality when he successfully manufactured the world’s first solar-powered hearing device complete with battery charger called ‘Solar Ear’ during a workshop in Botswana. He went on to establish Deaftronics (Pty) Ltd which a mission to provide affordable products for the deaf, employ hearing impaired people, and create awareness about the hearing impaired and also train them so that they better integrate into society.
