-As She Provides computer, public speaking, and leadership skills to young people
By Joyclyn Wea
Monrovia-Liberia: In a country still rebuilding from civil wars that devastated its educational infrastructure, Victoria Y. Miazee represents an extraordinary triumph of will over circumstance. Born to parents who are both visually impaired and facing the same disability herself, Victoria recently earned a Bachelor of Science in Education, becoming one of the few visually impaired college graduates in Liberia.
“I always have this notion that people are depending on me,” Victoria said in a recent interview. “The same way I depend on people to support me, that’s the same way other generations are depending on me.”
At age nine, Victoria already envisioned herself as an educator, taking the lead when playing with friends and feeling drawn to teaching. This vision persisted despite being abandoned by her parents at around age two, who allegedly left her at a school for the blind without provisions for her basic needs.
Victoria is one of 24 percent of visually impaired Liberians, and a small portion who have access to appropriate educational resources, and progress to higher education. Victoria’s achievement stands as a testament to both personal determination and the power of intentional support.
“I want to build a school,” Victoria explained, describing her professional aspirations. “A school that will incorporate trades so that when people or youth leave, they won’t be fighting for a job.” Her vision includes a curriculum that teaches practical skills alongside academic knowledge, ensuring graduates can sustain themselves financially.
The challenges Victoria faced throughout her educational journey were formidable. She described the difficulty of translating class materials into Braille, often receiving 64-page handouts with no consideration for how she would make them accessible.
“The teachers in schools don’t think about how students will translate their notes into Braille,” she said. “The discrimination in school is very serious, and even apart from that, the social stigmas.”
Victoria adapted through resourcefulness, recording classroom sessions on her phone and listening to them later to transcribe into Braille. This painstaking process took place within the compressed timeline of Liberia’s three-month semesters.
Behind Victoria’s success stands Brenda Moore, who has supported her education for the past decade. Moore, who leads the Kids Education Engagement Project where Victoria now serves as an intern, saw something special in the young woman’s determination.
“Her story just hit me,” Moore said. “Her father was blind, mother was blind, and living with that disability herself—I could not imagine how one family was living when everybody was blind.”
Moore’s support went beyond financial assistance. She created safe environments for Victoria, ensured transportation accommodations, and advocated for respectful treatment.
“If the perception is always there that blind people are beggars, you have to put that standard high,” Moore said she told Victoria. “Make sure when somebody is contacting you, let them know you got strong people behind you.”
Victoria’s experience has shaped her advocacy for educational reform in Liberia. She envisions schools that incorporate universal design principles, making buildings accessible to those with mobility challenges and ensuring teachers have training in Braille and sign language.
“The government needs to make sure that students with disability, whether visual impairment, hearing impairment, or those with physical challenges, are incorporated into the educational system,” Victoria insisted.
According to the World Health Organization, at least 2.2 billion people globally have vision impairments, with approximately 1 billion having conditions that could have been prevented or addressed with proper resources. In developing countries like Liberia, these challenges are magnified by limited infrastructure and resources.
Victoria’s story has particular resonance in a post-conflict nation like Liberia, where rebuilding educational systems presents an opportunity to make them more inclusive from the ground up.
Now working with the Kids Education Engagement Project’s “Emerging Leaders” initiative, Victoria mentors young people, particularly girls and women, teaching computer literacy, public speaking, and leadership skills.
When her parents suddenly reappeared at her university graduation, Victoria observed a painful irony. “People were fighting over me. Why did they fight over me? Because they see the future in me.”
Her message to parents of children with disabilities is unequivocal: “Do not give up on your disabled children because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Through that disability problem, they can change the world.”
As Victoria continues her work, her presence in Liberia’s educational landscape serves as both an inspiration and a challenge to the status quo. In a society where visually impaired individuals have historically been marginalized, her academic achievements and professional ambitions demonstrate what’s possible when barriers are removed and potential is nurtured.
“To be valued in a society, the best you can do is to be educated,” Victoria said. It’s a simple formula that, in her case, has proven transformative—not just for herself, but potentially for generations of Liberians to come.
