wherewework sierraleone

We have been working in Sierra Leone since 2018, equipping nonprofits to train influential religious leaders and teachers as child advocates who reduce harmful beliefs about disability and improve the lives of families impacted by disability.

In Sierra Leone, most families contact religious leaders for support when a child with a disability is born. Many of these leaders believe curses cause disability and advise families to use prayers, exorcisms, and healing rituals instead of medical care. Fortunately, most of those who complete Kupenda’s Disability Training change their practices and begin to help families understand the biological causes of disability and access life-saving services for their children.

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Although Sierra Leone has 6 national policies that support people with disabilities, challenges remain in terms of effective implementation. As a result, most people with disabilities in Sierra Leone are unable to access the healthcare and education they need. They also experience high rates of unemployment and social exclusion due to stigma and discrimination.

We are working to change this.

In the past 6 years…

What we have accomplished

In 2018, Kupenda’s technical team visited 3 nonprofits in Sierra Leone (World Hope International (WHI), EduNations, and The International Theological Education Network ) and helped them to conduct a disability needs assessment and co-facilitate our Disability Outreach and Inclusion Workshops 47 pastors and teachers. These trainees became powerful disability advocates in their communities – training their pastor colleagues, giving disability sensitization talks to thousands, registering people with disabilities for national services, referring caregivers to support groups, and providing food, clothing, transportation, and counseling services to families impacted by disability.

WHI was so inspired to see these trainees improving the lives of hundreds of families and sensitizing thousands of community members about disability justice that they decided to expand the implementation of Kupenda’s training work through their Enable the Children (ETC) program. To date, ETC has held trainings for 228 pastors, traditional healers, Muslim leaders, and other religious leaders and plan to hold more in the coming years. They have even begun expanding their trainings to include local leaders in Liberia. READ MORE.

TOGETHER, we can reduce harmful beliefs about disability and improve the lives of our world’s most vulnerable children.
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