Frederick Ndabaramiye

As a 15-year-old boy in his native Rwanda, Frederick Ndabaramiye was dragged from a bus and brutally attacked by Interahamwe rebels. When he refused to kill 18 fellow passengers, the rebels hacked off Ndabaramiye’s hands with machetes and left him for dead. He spent the next several years struggling to recover and came to the realization that the only way forward was to move past hate and anger and embrace forgiveness and action. With his mentor, Zachary Dusingizimana, he helped found the Ubumwe Community Center, which aims to empower people with disabilities through education and job training. Through his work there and beyond, Ndabaramiye has made it his mission to show people around the world that disability does not mean inability.