January 2025 – December 2027
Port Loko District, Sierra Leone
Up to 600 people with disabilities and more than 3,000 indirect beneficiaries
Ability in physical rehabilitation
SLASA – Single Leg Amputee Sports Association
Disability affects 4.3% of the population in Sierra Leone, as reported by the Integrated Household Survey of 2018. The most common types of disabilities include lower limb amputations (32%), visual impairments (29%), and hearing impairments (9%); while the leading causes are diseases or accidents (42%), followed by congenital causes (17%).
The majority of people with disabilities in Sierra Leone are living in poverty, with limited access to healthcare services, rehabilitation, and mobility devices such as prosthetics and orthotics. Despite the high percentage of users requiring rehabilitation services, there are only five orthopedic centres: one in Freetown, one in Bo, two in Makeni and one in Koidu. Furthermore, there is a lack of materials for the production of prosthetics and orthotics, and the employed personnel are not qualified. Indeed, only one technician in the entire Sierra Leone has received comprehensive training as an orthopedic technician.
SwissABILITY’s project aims to provide people with disabilities in the Port Loko District and surrounding areas with comprehensive services through the construction of an innovative orthopedic centre equipped with machinery and materials for the production of prosthetics and orthotics.
The building will be powered by solar panels, a clean and sustainable energy source that will ensure continuity of work even during frequent power outages. This will also reduce electricity costs.
For this project, SwissABILITY will work with a reliable and reputable local partner: SLASA – Single Leg Amputee Sports Association, an association based in Port Loko that has been operating for over ten years in the field of social and psychological rehabilitation of amputees who survived the civil war.
PROJECT SHEET
