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Disabled women face double discrimination from family and community members, and are more likely to be excluded from society as men.
Why?

• Women do not always have the same access to education and employment as men
• They are also discriminated against for having a disability such as blindness.

Musu’s story

Musu Konneh is in her 30s, and lost her sight in 1997, during the civil war.
“I used to sell food in the market before the war,” says Musu. “I felt so frustrated about not being able to see. I became very reserved and stopped going to the market to sell.”
Training from Sightsavers partner the Sierra Leone Association for the Blind (SLAB), gave her back her confidence, and she was soon able to get around and do things by herself again, like cooking for her family and fetching water from the stream.
As well as teaching valuable daily living skills, SLAB encourages its female clients to learn a trade such as bakery or soap making, and helps them borrow money to start their own small businesses.
Musu has now had, and successfully repaid, two loans (Le 300,000 - currently the equivalent of £55, and Le 480,000 - £82) and runs a table top stall from her house, selling sundries such milk, sweets, sardines and batteries.

“People used to tease my daughter in school, saying ‘your mummy is blind’” she says. “Now they don’t do it any more because they see I can take care of myself. I am not a burden to anyone.”