The character arc of Haben Girma

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 29 July 1988 in Oakland, California, to an Eritrean immigrant family, her mother having fled to Sudan in 1983 during a war and met her father in California. Between then and now sit an unknown progressive condition that took her vision and hearing from early childhood and left her one percent of her sight, an elder brother with the same condition and none of the same tools, a digital Braille device, civil rights law that applied to her, volunteer work in Mali at fifteen, a mainstream public high school in 2006, and Harvard Law School. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Haben Girma?

Her brother is deafblind too. He was born in the wrong country.

She was born in Oakland to an Eritrean immigrant family. Her father was born and raised in Addis Ababa, her mother in Asmara; her mother fled to Sudan in 1983 among many other refugees during the war, and met her father in California. Her parents speak three languages.

She lost her vision and hearing from an unknown progressive condition beginning in early childhood, and retains one percent of her sight. She has described being frequently left out of the spotlight, unable to fully engage in a world that seemed to forget she existed.

Here is the sentence that makes this page worth reading. Her elder brother Mussie is also deafblind. Growing up in the United States, she benefited from civil rights law, and from accessible technology such as a digital Braille device. He, raised in Eritrea, had access to none of it. Two siblings, the same condition, and the difference between their lives is not ability. It is where they happened to be born and what the law and the equipment there allowed.

She went to a mainstream public high school and graduated in 2006. At fifteen she travelled to Mali to do volunteer work building schools.

Then she became the first deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School. She works as a disability rights advocate, and the argument she carries is the one her own family proves: the barrier is almost never the person.

The moments

Haben Girma's timeline.

The 1980s

29 Jul 1988

An Eritrean family in Oakland

Everyday. Two parents, three languages, and a long way from home.

The 1990s

~1993

Her sight and hearing go

Setback, and it changed everything. An unknown condition, taking both senses, from early childhood.

~1996

Forgotten in the room

Setback, and it changed everything. Her own words: a world that seemed to forget she existed.

~1998

A digital Braille device

Milestone, and it changed everything. A machine, and a law. Both of them decided elsewhere by somebody else.

~1999

Her brother has neither

Setback, and it changed everything. Same family, same condition, and none of the same tools.

The 2000s

Jun 2003

Mali at fifteen

Milestone, and it changed everything. Fifteen years old, deafblind, building schools in Mali.

Jun 2006

A mainstream school

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Not a special school. The ordinary one, and she finished it.

1 Sep 2009

Which fight to train for

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: go and study the law, taken, or advocate without it. She became the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School and works as a disability rights advocate.

The 2010s

Sep 2010

Harvard Law

Milestone, and it changed everything. Into the law school everybody has heard of.

Jun 2013

The first deafblind graduate

Milestone, and it changed everything. First. In the whole history of the place.

~2015

The advocacy

Milestone, and it changed everything. She took the degree and used it on the barrier itself.

She is still arguing the same case, in rooms that were not built for her. What she set moving is the plainest evidence there is that accessibility is not charity: her brother has her condition and none of her tools, and the only difference between the two lives is what somebody decided to build.

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Haben Girma: frequently asked questions

What people ask about her line.

What is Haben Girma's character arc?

A girl born in Oakland to an Eritrean family who lost her sight and hearing to an unknown condition in early childhood, went to a mainstream school, built schools in Mali at fifteen, and became the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School.

Was Haben Girma the first deafblind Harvard Law graduate?

Yes. She is recorded as the first deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, and she works as a disability rights advocate. She retains one percent of her sight.

What is Haben Girma's brother's story?

Her elder brother Mussie Gebre is also deafblind. Growing up in Eritrea he did not have access to the accessible technology, such as a digital Braille device, or the civil rights law that she had in the United States.

What happened to Haben Girma's sight and hearing?

She lost both as a result of an unknown progressive condition that began in early childhood, and retains one percent of her sight. She has described being frequently left out, in a world that seemed to forget she existed.

What did Haben Girma do at fifteen?

She travelled to Mali to do volunteer work, building schools with an organisation. She graduated from a mainstream public high school three years later, in 2006, before going on to Harvard.

What is Haben Girma's family background?

Her father was born and raised in Addis Ababa and her mother in Asmara. Her mother fled to Sudan in 1983 among many other refugees during a war, and met her father in California. Her parents are fluent in three languages.

Where does this timeline of Haben Girma's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Haben Girma isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to her.

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Sources

Haben Girma, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
Harvard Law School records for her graduation as its first deafblind student.
Her own published account of her childhood and of her brother's, as that biography quotes it.
No position is taken here on the conflict her mother fled.