Living with disabilities

Help create a disability inclusive society across Ethiopia

Our local partners are committed to supporting people living with disabilities to help them fulfill their potential.
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Challenge

Challenge

People living with disabilities in Ethiopia are often sidelined in society, unable to access education and healthcare and failing to achieve their full potential.

These challenges can seem insurmountable to those who may live in rural areas or are unable to avoid medical assistance.  But we know it is possible for these children and adults to be active members of their communities.

Challenge

Solution

To create a disability-inclusive society across Ethiopia by treating  orthopedic disabilities, creating community awareness to remove stigma around disability and provide mobility aids.

Alongside this, the solution also includes access to quality education  for children with Special Educational Needs, to ensure that no one gets left behind.

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Living with Disabilities – Hana’s Story ⪢

Before 9 year old Hana started therapy with Cheshire Services, she couldn’t walk or talk. Her future looked bleak.

Living with Disabilities - Solomon's story ⪢

Before joining Cheshire’s project Solomon’s health was poor. Now he and his mother are able to support themselves. 

Our partners

Cheshire Services aims to bring about a disability-inclusive society across
Ethiopia. They do this through their main activities: treating orthopedic disabilities among children and youth, creating community awareness to remove the stigma associated with disability, and provision of mobility aids and rough rider wheelchairs. Their Menagesha Rehabilitation Centre is their flagship site, providing both resident children and outpatients with corrective surgery, physiotherapy and custom-fitted prosthetic limbs and mobility aids. For children living in more remote areas, Cheshire Services run a mobile outreach service where a team of physiotherapists, orthopaedic technologists and a social worker can assess, treat and follow-up both new and old patients.

 

Our impact

In 2018, Ethiopiaid’s donors and local partners made a real difference to families in local Ethiopian communities:

6,151

disabled people are supported in the community

2,357

people received prosthetic limbs and mobility aids

1

feasibility study for visual impairment screening in schools using a mobile phone app

80

visually impaired students received talking textbooks

40

government and community leaders could attend training on disability rights and fair opportunities

15

off-road wheelchairs are produced every month

140

disabled young people and mothers of disabled children were supported with livelihood training

1,982

pairs of special orthopaedic shoes were distributed

We also help

Women and girls ⪢

Adolescent girls are often subjected to harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation, gender-based violence and child marriage. 

Education ⪢

Around 60,000 children live on the streets of Addis Ababa. More than half have no access to shelter, adequate food, or an education.

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