Connecting the Dots
Our Connecting the Dots training and employment programme has transformed the lives of young people with disabilities in western Uganda.
During the initial four year-project, Connecting the Dots has delivered vocational training, transformed attitudes to disability and strengthened the work of organisations working with people with disabilities.
The project has provided vocational training for more than 300 young people with disabilities, and changed attitudes to disability by showing that people with disabilities can be valued, productive employees.
A follow-up project is building on the success of Connecting the Dots by increasing the number of participants and expanding to another district.
The European Commission has funded the economic empowerment programme since 2012, and additional funding was awarded in August 2017 by the National Lottery Community Fund. This generous support has helped to transform the lives of hundreds of young people with disabilities in Uganda.
Stories
Isaac's story
“When I started to learn knitting, it was difficult. But I thought: I tell everyone who knows me that I’m clever; how can I go home?”
Read Isaac’s story
Edith’s story
“Here in Uganda the attitude was negative. People with disabilities were often nicknamed ‘kateyemba’, which means ‘the unable one’”.
Read Edith’s story
Rajab’s story
Rajab dropped out of school after his senior six year because his mother, a farmer, couldn’t continue to pay the fees for further education.
Read Rajab’s story
More from Connecting the Dots
Supporting youth with deafblindness in Uganda
Alice Nabbanja from Sense International explains how the organisation has been working with Sightsavers in Uganda supporting young people with deafblindness and complex disabilities.
“As a parent, to see your child happy, is as much as you can ask for.”
Sightsavers and Sense International supported 14-year-old Hellen and her family from Masindi, Uganda, by helping them communicate with each other and support themselves financially.
Charles’s story
Charles Ahumuza, who is partially sighted, reveals how Sightsavers' inclusive employment programme in Uganda has helped him to fulfil his childhood dream of becoming an electrician.
