PROJECT #195

Project #195 | Holistic Care for Women with Disabilities in Sierra Leone

Our partnership with Accessible Hope International

Women with disabilities in Sierra Leone are marginalized and ostracized from their communities as a result of the pervasive beliefs and attitudes about disability that exist in Sierra Leone and other countries. This puts these women at high risk for extreme poverty, relational isolation, gender-based violence and abuse, and poor health. According to the United Nations, 15% of the world’s population lives with a disability. People with disabilities make up 20% of the world’s extreme poor. Additionally, only 1% of women with disabilities worldwide are literate, and they are 3 times more likely to be victims of sexual abuse and violence than women without disabilities. Women with disabilities have often been told all their lives that they were worthless, cursed, demonic or not fully human. After years of hearing such things, they believe the lies they’ve been told, and they become self-fulfilling prophecies.

One Day’s Wages is partnered with Accessible Hope International to provide wholistic health and development education to women with disabilities in Sierra Leone. This was done through a variety of programming options focused on helping women understand their inherent value, repair and restore broken relationships, change fundamental health and hygiene practices, learn basic business skills, and much more. The signature program available to women, Transformation Training, was a 15-week course helping women evaluate their current thoughts and attitudes and make subtle shifts in their thinking which result in changed behaviors.

Our collective impact

Communities Reached

Women Empowered through Transformation Training

Family Members Indirectly Impacted

Meet Isha

Isha, who is blind, shared her feelings with the staff of Accessible Hope after completing a lesson on first aid, a part of the Transformation Training curriculum. “I am thankful that Accessible Hope does not pick and choose about who can attend these classes, but allows women with any type of disability to take part. I may not be able to see, but I have very attentive ears. This week I was able to direct a group of young boys in how to care for one of their friends who broke his foot. I instructed the leader of the group of friends on how to immobilize the foot using a splint. After that was done, I told them to take him to the hospital to have medical professionals treat it. Later, when the boy with the broken foot came back from the hospital, his parents sought me out to thank me for helping their son. I am glad I have this knowledge and can help in my community.” Isha now not only views herself as the light she is, but has been empowered to assist her community as a health advocate!

Thank you for making this possible!

Our movement is grassroots, to us that not only means the work on the ground is led by local leaders with the support of the community, but it also means that we raise the funds for our projects through everyday donors just like you. In addition to all the donors that gave $25, $100, or $250 and the campaigners that ran a race or donated their birthday to raise funds, we also want to thank our generous business, school, and faith sponsors who believed in our work and joined the movement.

If you want to support future projects like this you can make a donation to our gender based violence fund.

                 

 

One Day’s Wages exists to alleviate extreme poverty by investing in, amplifying, and coming alongside locally led organizations in underserved communities.

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