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.
“I grew up wanting to be an electrician, so nothing could divert me from my chosen career. I get good feedback from my customers.”
Read Charles’s story
The group meets under a tree outside local council buildings in Uganda. But the unusual location isn’t the only unorthodox thing about it.
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“Here in Uganda the attitude was negative. People with disabilities were often nicknamed ‘kateyemba’, which means ‘the unable one’”.
Read Edith’s story
Isaac Bolingo is training young people with disabilities to be mechanics in his garage.
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.
Alice Nabbanja from Sense International explains how the organisation has been working with Sightsavers in Uganda supporting young people with deafblindness and complex disabilities.