Two founding members of the UK based ‘Dorothy Springer Trust’, Dr Abdulai Dumbuya and Margaret Atkins, have told Awoko that 100 Pentium 3 and 4 computers including printers, scanners and other accessories are due in Sierra Leone soon, as an initial support towards disabled oriented institutions in Freetown and Bo. “We are on a fact finding mission in Sierra Leone to diagnose the felt needs of people with disability in the country and to see how best we can transport them into a more productive labour force,” Dr Dumbuya said.
They have already begun courtesy calls on education institutions, government ministries and a number of NGOs, with the aim of seeking partnership and collaboration to improve on the capacity of disabled people in the country.
At Njala University, the vice chancellor and principal Professor Sidi Alghali maintained that his institution was always opened with equal opportunities to each and every Sierra Leonean to realize their potentials. He said they ran formal training information, technology skills at both diploma and degree levels without any discrimination. Margaret Atkins said in Europe, “there is positive discrimination with a level playing field for anyone with the requisite qualification to secure a job”.