What We Do:

We are a small non-government (charitable) organisation working in Sierra Leone.

Our Vision is:

“To enable disabled people in Sierra Leone to support themselves and their families through skilled employment, allowing them to participate more fully as equal members of society”.

Our Mission is to advance the prospects of disabled people in Sierra Leone through education and vocational training, with a focus on Information, Communication and Technology (ICT):

• The advancement of the education of disabled people in Sierra Leone, in particular, but not exclusively, through vocational and educational training.
• To develop the capacity and skills of disabled members of the socially and economically disadvantaged community of Sierra Leone in such a way that they are better able to identify and help meet their needs, and to participate more fully in society.

Ultimately our aim is to ensure that people with disabilities enjoy the same opportunities as others in the job market.

Our Strategy:

The key themes for our Strategy are divided in two phases:

Phase 1:

• Sponsorship in education and training – working with local organisations in Sierra Leone to provide disabled people with ICT training and certification to an advanced level.

Phase 2:

• Financial self-sufficiency – set up a multi-purpose premises’ to enable DST to diversify, increase capacity and become financially self-sufficient through various income generators.
• Advocacy for disabled people – establish a Disabled Rights campaign centre within DST’s premises that will provide support for our students and other members of the disabled community.
• Operation of employment agency – support disabled people after they have completed ICT training by acting as a niche agency for recruitment in the provision of ICT services to businesses and other organisations.

Our Approach:

Accountability – we are committed to channelling all money raised directly to relevant projects that seek to improve the plight of disabled people in Sierra Leone.

Engaging disabled people in our programmes – we are committed to developing productive engagement with persons with disabilities by preparing them for skilled employment and independent living in society.

Transparency – we are committed to being transparent in all that we do, and to undertake regular monitoring and evaluation of our projects.

Providing information on how your money is spent – we are committed to regularly providing our supporters with accurate and up-to-date information on how your money is being spent.

Disabled people in Sierra Leone experience discrimination in all areas of life, including in the job market. DST works hard on the ground to advance the rights of persons with disabilities.

Our Chief Executive Officer, Dr Abs Dumbuya, has worked with government institutions nationally and internationally to campaign for and advocate improved rights. For example, Abs has worked for equitable representation of disabled people in the Parliament as chairman of the National Disability Election Network, and has represented Sierra Leone as Disability Lead in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

For example:

2018: DST is working with the Government of Sierra Leone’s (GoSL) Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs on the writing of the first country report on the status of implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). DST and partners are leading on education and employment chapters.

2017: The Dorothy Springer Trust (DST) in collaboration with One Family People (OFP) and Lillian Fund Foundation (LF) convened a Consultative Workshop on “Studying the Sierra Leone Disability Act 2011 and Deriving Key Messages from the Act” as the organisations embark on Disability Advocacy and Lobbying to fully implement the Act. The workshop was hosted by DST, and addressed the four thematic areas of Education and Employment, Health and Enabling Environment of the Disability Act.