Burn survivor at 6, robotics engineer at 19: Ghanaian teen helping the visually impaired with tech
At 6 years old, Henry Senyegbe Agbemabiese's life changed dramatically when he suffered burns in a fire accident.
Instead of letting this traumatic event define him, the Ghanaian used it as a catalyst for empathy and innovation, leading him to create technologies aimed at helping others with disabilities.
In an interview with Global South World, 19-year-old Henry, founder of Code Club Academy, shared his journey of developing assistive devices for the visually impaired.
Henry, recalling how the traumatic event set him and this path said "I knew what persons with disability go through because if I had a fire accident, and people started seeing me with a disability, what of people with actual disability?"
By age 13, Henry had developed his first prototype: a smart spectacle designed to assist visually impaired individuals. This early invention laid the groundwork for Code Club Academy, a project dedicated to teaching technology and developing assistive devices.
Henry founded Code Club Academy to achieve two main goals: educate people in robotics and technology and create practical devices for those with disabilities.
“So I enrolled myself in self-training technology courses and at an earlier age I started teaching university students robotics and other technology-related courses," Henry told GSW.
Code Club Academy's flagship products are the Smart VI (Visually Impaired) devices, a smart spectacle and a smart stick. The smart spectacle detects obstacles above shoulder level, while the smart stick identifies objects at lower levels.
"Aside that, it has some special functions like light detection and an emergency button where in case of emergency, with the click of a button the emergency goes straight to the caretaker," Henry added.
Henry chose to focus on visually impaired individuals because it represents a broad category of disability. "We wanted to focus on the wider disability before we come to the smaller ones," Henry explained.
Despite facing doubts from friends and family who saw robotics as a frivolous pursuit, Henry remained committed. “My family, and friends didn’t support me much because they thought it was a waste of time, energy and resources. They weren’t into it that much until they saw it growing, He recalls.
The Code Club team
Henry also had to contend with economic challenges in Ghana. High costs for imported components have strained his efforts, but he remains resolute. “The journey has not been easy,” he admits.
At 19, Henry holds diplomas in system engineering, robotics engineering, and special needs. Since 2023, Code Club Academy has raised about GHC 40,000 to develop the devices and bring them to market.
Henry attributes his transformation from a young burn victim to a robotics engineer and founder of Code Club Academy to consistency.
"I’m the type that believes that life is not a random way so we shouldn’t always follow that, which is go to school and get a job," Henry added. "I diverted from that and taught myself all that I know through online education. So you can always make your way."
Watch the full interview:
