How does a blind tailor create perfectly fitted clothes? Meet the Kenyan craftsman defying expectations
Key Takeaways
- Charles Kibe lost his sight in 2013 due to glaucoma but continued working as a tailor.
- He developed innovative methods, including a tape measure with Braille-like markings, to continue his craft.
- Kibe hopes his story inspires others to remain resilient despite illness or personal setbacks.
Charles Kibe lost his sight to glaucoma but continues to run his tailoring business using skill, experience and determination
How does a tailor continue measuring, mending and fitting clothes after losing his sight?
For Charles Kibe, a tailor in Nairobi, the answer lies in resilience, innovation and decades of experience.
Despite losing his sight in 2013 after glaucoma damaged his optic nerve, Kibe continues to serve customers from his tailoring shop, where he repairs and alters clothing using adaptations he developed himself.
In the video attached to the article, the 48-year-old can be seen carefully working on garments, relying on tools such as a tape measure with Braille-like markings to carry out his trade.
Kibe said losing his sight initially affected his business, with many customers leaving after learning about his condition.
"Before then I had many customers, but from then, many customers went away, but few of them remained with me, supporting me, and they were amused with how I was responding to their needs," Kibe shared.
Rather than abandoning the profession he had practised for more than three decades, Kibe found new ways to continue working.
"Two weeks after I lost my sight, I had to look for other ways of innovating my work because I have children to look after and myself, so I had to innovate on how to forge forward," the tailor said.
His determination has helped him retain customers and gain the trust of new ones.
"Initially, when I knew Fundi, I had not trusted his work, but once I brought a piece of cloth and he delivered the work, we built trust and I started bringing my clothes to him," said customer Esther Njoki.
Kibe believes his experience carries an important message for others facing adversity.
"What I have seen from when I got sick is the experience of being resilient with your work. I would tell people not to be swayed by their sickness or deviating from what they do," Kibe shared.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
