What we do

Currently, 100 children are registered with Nyandengoh!
We serve these children and their families through six interrelated program areas:

Spiritual Nurture,Education,
Physical Care & Equipment,
Psychosocial Care,
Advocacy & Training, and
Economic Empowerment

(see Diagram to the right).

Spiritual Nurture

For two reasons, spiritual nurture is at the heart of our activities:

(1) We are motivated by the love of Christ, whose Kingdom is characterized by acts of compassion towards those who live with disabilities (Luke 7:22,23; Luke 14:12-24).

(2) In a context where people often explain disabilities in spiritual terms, parents of disabled children seek spiritual answers to their suffering. With our activities we counteract false beliefs and affirm the value of children with disabilities as created in the image of God.

Although we are a Christian organization, we believe we are called to help everyone, and the majority of the families we serve are of the Muslim faith.

Education

Almost 70 of our children are enrolled in some form of education. At the beginning of the school year we assist them with basic school supplies. Throughout the year, we monitor their progress and stay in touch with their teachers. Some children are supported to attend the School for the Deaf in Makeni. For children who do not do well in the mainstream school system, we opened in September 2021 the Nyandengoh! School for Special Education, which also includes a Day Care and Preschool.

Physical Care & Equipment

Nyandengoh! partners with local clinics and hospitals to provide basic health care services for all registered children. Three times a year, a team of physical and rehab therapists of World Hope International / Enable the Children in Freetown visits Mattru Jong to evaluate the children of Nyandengoh! and prescribe exercises. Through this partnership, we also have access to equipment such as wheelchairs, crutches, special chairs and standing frames, etc. In collaboration with the Epilepsy Foundation of Sierra Leone, we provide children, even in the remotest villages, with seizure medication.

Psychosocial Care

A lot of stigma is attached to disability in Sierra Leone. This especially affects mothers, who are frequently blamed for their child’s disability. Through our psychosocial care program, parents and children receive counselling from Nyandengoh! Staff.

Advocacy & Training

Knowledge about disabilities is limited in Sierra Leone. Formally and informally the Nyandengoh! team teaches communities about disability. In 2021, we equipped about 40 Sunday School leaders to teach their churches about disabilities from a Biblical perspective. In 2022 and 2023 our health liaison and nurse Abdulai taught 120 health workers in over 20 rural clinics and hospitals about childhood disabilities.

Economic Empowerment

This is a new program area, which we are very excited about! In 2023 we are hoping to help six families get started with small-scale businesses and to enroll two children in vocational training.

For a full overview of our activities, and our plans for 2021-2025, please download our Five-Year Plan here.