Specialist education
A University Diploma in Autism and Associated Disorders from Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, grounding practice in specialist knowledge.
About Rosine
Service became
a life’s work.
Three decades of practice, learning and institution-building across Rwanda and France.
01 The person
An expert who
stayed close to practice.
Rosine Duquesne Kamagaju is a Rwandan autism specialist, educator and founder whose experience spans direct support, professional training and institution-building. Her authority comes from keeping those levels connected: specialist knowledge must remain useful to the child, understandable to the family and workable for the people responsible for daily support.
For Rosine, inclusion is not achieved by a policy statement alone. It becomes credible when a teacher knows how to adapt, when a parent is treated as a source of knowledge, and when a service can explain how it protects dignity, safety and progress.
Founder · trainer · system builder
Experience that travels in both directions.
Rosine’s perspective was shaped between Rwanda and France, through different professional environments but a consistent concern: how to make support genuinely useful in a person’s daily life. Specialist study gave her a rigorous framework; long field practice taught her to observe, adjust and remain attentive to what standard solutions can miss.
Returning knowledge to Rwanda therefore did not mean importing a finished model. It meant translating evidence into approaches that respect language, culture, family experience, available resources and the responsibilities of local institutions.
This movement between contexts is now one of her distinctive strengths. She can connect international standards with local implementation, while recognising that adaptation requires discipline, listening and continued evaluation.
“The method matters. But the child, the family and the local reality must always come first.”
International practice
More than 25 years of experience across France and Africa, including direct support for autistic children and adults.
Capacity building
Training and knowledge transfer through the MIDA Great Lakes programme, with an emphasis on strengthening local professional competence.
Institution building
Founder and director of Autisme Rwanda, established in Kigali in 2014 as a practical response for children, families and professionals.
02 Journey
One direction,
across decades.
Reconnecting children and families
In post-genocide Rwanda, Rosine worked with Save the Children Fund UK to help unaccompanied children reconnect with their families. The work placed protection, trust and the patient rebuilding of relationships at the centre of her professional path.
Practice strengthened by specialist study
Years of direct support for autistic children and adults gave Rosine a close understanding of everyday needs, progress and family realities. She complemented that practice with a University Diploma in Autism and Associated Disorders at Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1.
Returning knowledge to Rwanda
Through IOM’s MIDA Great Lakes programme, Rosine trained candidate trainers in psychological and educational support for autistic people in Kigali. The objective was not a short intervention, but stronger local competence that could continue after the programme.
Founding Autisme Rwanda
Rosine created Autisme Rwanda as a locally rooted response for children and families, while also working with professionals and communities. The organisation became the place where knowledge could be tested against real needs and turned into daily practice.
Preparing knowledge to travel
The next step is to document what practice has taught, make the method teachable and define the standards that protect its quality. The aim is to help future African partners adapt the approach without losing its child-centred foundations.
Across places and years
A career built
through encounters.
Rosine's path connects field practice, institutional dialogue and international exchange. These photographs show different moments of that journey rather than a single recent event.
Photography courtesy of Autisme Rwanda
Turn experience
into action.
Invite Rosine to share the lessons behind her work, train a team or advise an inclusion initiative.
Start a conversation