Visually impaired Semirindi can now face the future, brick by brick

Faustin Semirindi, 32, may be visually impaired but he refused to live off handouts from well wishers.The father of two and resident of Nyamabuye Cell in Musanze District owns a brick-making facility and supplies real estate developers in the District and beyond.“I became visually impaired at the age of five. I grew up in a family where I was taken as a burden, people only saw me as a beggar. Against all odds, I managed to complete high school,” he said in an interview.He said that despite his impairment, he was a bright student and draws his courage from the stigma he faced while growing up.“The more I was stigmatised, the more I thought of ways of sustaining myself. That is how I thought of venturing into business,” he says.After completing S6, in 2006, Semirindi started the struggle of finding his place in society. He initially founded a dance troupe through which he and his colleagues were hired to perform at functions.“I was also a comedian and I and my club attracted attention of many people, we used to earn more than Rwf 50,000 per event,” he said.In 2007, Semirindi solicited support from local authorities to start a business of making bricks. The Northern Province gave him Rwf 500,000.Demand driven “I wanted to engage in brick-making to respond to the problem of scarcity of the commodity because of the nature of our soils,” he says.But the money he was given was not enough to start the business and he was advised to look for other people to work with for a strong start and, together with three others, they pooled resources, on agreement that they would go separate ways after two years.“We pooled Rwf4 million and business was very profitable that after two years, the three took their shares and profits and left me in the business alone,” he says.He now manages his plant, which employs more than 200 casual labourers from his neighbourhood.“When I started working alone, day-to-day management of the business was a challenge. I decided to work closely with my wife and few other people. My task now is to make sure that all employees are on duty and paid on time, after which I look for the market,” he says“I have a wide market because I have established relationship with local leaders, business people and contractors. Whenever they need bricks I supply them,” he saysIt takes Semirindi six weeks to make 140,000 bricks from which he earns Rwf3.5 million.He says that he saves Rwf 250,000 per month after paying transport and employees.“I am now a proud man and I have my business to take care of the needs of my family and the families of the people I employ. Being blind is no longer a barrier of doing business because it is physical and not mental, I will continue using my brain sto expand my business,”AchievementsSemirindi says that his life achievement is the battle to overcome becoming a beggar.“I couldn’t have married legally without this business, I have built my own house in which we live in and managed to buy a plot of land worth Rwf3 million,” he said.

National

Visually impaired Semirindi can now face the future, brick by brick