Cystal Asige on Time Magazine's 2024 Time100 Next list

Cystal Asige on Time Magazine’s 2024 Time100 Next list (Photo: Crystal Asige/ Instagram)

Nominated Senator Crystal Asige is one of two Kenyans on Time Magazine's 2024 Time100 Next list.

Asige, who is visually impaired, was overjoyed to be included in the list, which recognises emerging leaders around the world who are shaping the future.

Writing on social media, she said she was happy that her work was being recognised and encouraged others that nothing is impossible.

“WHAT! I am screaming. I have no clue how my work travelled around the world and landed in front of TIME, but naming me in their 2024 #TIME100NEXT list of influential leaders shaping the future of their fields and defining the next generation of leadership is wild, and you are all right at the centre of this acknowledgement.

“Thank you for helping me show the world that young, quirky people can also create impact! I just want to speak to the underdogs who feel like what they want is impossible. Please, please keep putting one foot in front of the other however dark it might be - I PROMISE, you were made for a time such as this on purpose and for purpose!” she wrote.

The other Kenyan on the list is Thomas Njeru, the co-founder and CEO of Pula, a Nairobi-based microinsurance business that serves over 20 million farmers across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Crystal Asige’s battle with Glaucoma

In a previous interview, Asige shared that she started to notice problems with her eyesight when she was around 16 years old before fully losing her sight at the age of 20.

"I went to the UK in Bristol which was where I attended university to study film and theatre. I went for a general checkup and the doctor told me that there was something seriously wrong with my eyes. He said that the pressure was three times higher than the normal pressure in the human eye. Still alarmed, I went to the hospital and after a series of tests were done over some time, I was finally diagnosed with glaucoma.

"I was left distraught because I was only 20 years at the time, in my second year of university. Lots of things flashed before my eyes, I thought about everything that my parents had sacrificed for me to get a good education only for me to drop out because I was going blind. I also thought about my very visual course, and I wondered how all this was going to work if I couldn't even see. I was so stressed out, to say the least," she said in a previous interview.

Despite being featured on Extravaganza beside Bensoul, Nviiri the Storyteller and Kaskazini, Crystal maintains she is not famous, never mind the over 9 million views the song has.

"Even though strangers may walk up to me and give me their feedback on my music and am not able to see them, that kind of interaction and support makes me happy and I promise to keep making great music and being an inspiration," she said.