The inspiration for inABLE began when Founder Irene Mbari-Kirika hosted a reading day at the Kenya National Library in Thika. A group of students who were very competitive, smart, and outgoing captured her attention. One of this group was victorious in the reading challenge for the day. Yet, these students were all blind or low vision. Irene further learned from their teacher that there was a desperate need for braille books and resources for visually-impaired students

Driven by the urgent need to connect the students to the rest of the world by destroying the barriers to communication and employment, in 2009, Irene opened the first two Assistive Technology (AT) Computer Labs at the Thika Primary School for the blind, serving 312 blind & low vision students.

To date, inABLE has established AT computer labs in six schools for the blind in Kenya, enrolled more than 8,800 blind and low vision students + teachers and provided more than 35,000 hours of AT computer skills training

In 2012 courtesy of the Blackboard Foundation, inABLE opened its third lab at the Thika High School for the blind, serving 260 students.

With support from General Electric, inABLE opened its fourth lab, serving 415 blind students from St. Lucy’s Primary and St. Lucy’s High School.

inABLE opened two labs at St. Oda primary school for the blind, serving 456 students from both St. Oda primary and high school.

WSIS Prizes honor outstanding projects that leverage the power of information and communication technology (ICT) to accelerate socio-economic development. inABLE won recognition for its work to empower the blind and visually impaired students in Africa through computer assistive technology.

inABLE launched its seventh lab at Likoni primary school for the blind in Mombasa country, serving 450 students from both Likoni primary and high schools for the blind.

Irene was the recipient of the Order of the Grand Warrior of Kenya 2016 award in recognition for outstanding leadership and exemplary contribution towards education and disabilities.

For demonstrating innovative global education in classrooms.

Working with Ashoka, inABLE was shortlisted under the category of education for people with disabilities.