When Getty began losing her vision as a girl, she was told her life was over. Wrong!

Years ago, when some family and community members learned that young Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame was losing her vision, they lamented, "How will you be anything in the future? Oh my Lord, is this the end for you?"

It was not.

This year, Fefoame, now age 65, became the chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a group that protects and advocates for the rights of people with disabilities. A citizen of Ghana, she's the first African woman to hold the position and has spent her career serving this community. Earlier, as a member of the CRPD, she helped get more women elected to the committee and revived a working group on women and girls with disabilities.

Alongside her work for the U.N., Fefoame's main role is global advocacy manager at Sightsavers, an international organization that strives to eliminate avoidable blindness and promote the rights of those with disabilities. She also serves as the Africa president of the International Council of People with Visual Impairment, is an adviser to the World Council of Churches Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, and has been involved with the World Blind Union.

NPR spoke with Fefoame to discuss