Today we would like to introduce you to our partner in Abidjan, Roland Karamoh:

Roland was born in the Ivory Coast in 1973 and grew up with his twin brother in Daloa.

After graduating from high school, he completed a BTS specialising in Commercial Management at secondary school. In Germany, BTS is comparable to a university of applied sciences degree.

As Roland suffers from congenital glaucoma, his school career was repeatedly characterised by absences due to illness. He was diagnosed in the third grade, and this began a marathon of visits to the doctor and treatments, none of which could prevent the condition of his eyes from worsening over the years.

Roland is someone who doesn’t let anything stop him. Even with his visual impairment, he completed his degree and went on to complete internships and work for companies.

He had always wanted to work in the humanitarian sector since his youth and made his first attempt to set up an aid organisation at the age of 19. However, the authorities considered him too young at the time to take on the administrative tasks involved in setting up and running an aid organisation. This hurdle slowed him down, but did not stop him.He started a fundraising campaign with friends and collected clothes, food and hygiene products for a village with leprosy patients. After the 2010/2011 civil war in Côte d’Ivoire, he volunteered to distribute relief supplies to the victims and supported various aid projects for the victims of the war.

He made the next attempt to set up his aid organisation in March 2020, but this time he was stopped by the pandemic. Due to the progression of his disease, he is now almost completely blind and his mobility is very limited as a result.Nevertheless, he is out and about every day for Impulse for Change e.V. and in constant dialogue with our project participants, never giving up on helping and supporting other people.

“Despite all this, I have never given up, my love for sharing and giving is greater than anything else. Together with Impulse for Change e.V., I have helped in providing relief funds for women to help them in their creative and income generating activities so that these brave women can increase their business activities and their income and profit.” – Roland Karamoh