Stories from Sierra Leone: Eku's Story

My name is Eku Scotland, and I am the Director and Proprietor of the Opportunity Training Centre (OTC), which is supported by the Mamie Foundation.

The OTC is a place where people living with disabilities can come and go through training that will positively impact their lives. Before this time, especially during the war, people with disabilities were left on the streets to beg. This is what made starting up the OTC necessary; we wanted people to have training so they could earn money in a respectable manner. That’s how we began in 1993.

I was born in 1954, and as a polio victim, I was unable to go to normal school. I couldn’t go to school because there were no wheelchairs or other devices that could have helped me get around. Despite this, my father saw my potential; he saw something in me, and he said I should train to become a technician. So that’s what I did. I graduated from M&M Electronics in Freetown, and that’s how I started my life working on my own and earning money!

Because of my own success story, I wanted to replicate it for others who live with disabilities. When you learn a skill, that skill will empower you to lead a dignified life, and you will not have to go down to the street and beg. I’m happy because I’ve been able to positively impact the lives of my colleagues through the OTC!

The OTC is vitally important because we’ve begun to change the negative perceptions that those who live with disabilities face. It has improved the lives of those who work with us for the better. They are proud of the lives they live, and they know that their disability cannot hold them back from achieving their dreams.

Mamie Foundation have helped us train about fifty students, and the partnership we have with them is so cordial. Some organisations base their help in terms of charity. But not Mamie Foundation. Mamie Foundation empowers. They make sure that, together, we can change lives positively. That’s one achievement that the partnership between OTC and Mamie Foundation has seen!

Looking to the future, I look forward to the OTC growing and our continued work around changing negative perceptions of those living with disabilities. It is particularly important that we change the negative perceptions that parents have of their children. For us to be able to enable the generations after us to live differently from the way we did.

Help us to support our partners by becoming a Regular Giver to All We Can. With your committed support, All We Can can walk together with talented organisations making a transformative impact in their communities.

Find out more about giving to All We Can by clicking here