Enable the Children

Enable the Children is a team of local and expatriate staff who provide Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, care, and support services to children living with disabilities in Freetown, Sierra Leone. More than half of the children enrolled in Enable the Children suffer from cerebral palsy; others include Down syndrome, autism, acquired brain injury, muscular dystrophy, orthopedic challenges, and many more.

Enable the Children staff visit patients in their homes and teach families and caregivers how to support children with disabilities using play, developmental positioning, and feeding support. This allows families the opportunity to learn to provide at-home care and treatment to children in a manner that is sustainable in their everyday lives. As cultural beliefs lead many mothers to place blame upon themselves when a child is born with a disability, Enable the Children works with mothers so they understand each child’s medical case and to reassure parents that they’ve done nothing wrong.

Enable the Children has helped turn more than 800 children’s lives around, despite still living with a disability. Some children have been given the opportunity to eat without the risk of choking thanks to better positioning, others have learned how to utilize and play with their hands, some have felt for the first time how it feels to sit upright or stand at eye level with their friends, and many can finally enjoy quality time with their parents, siblings, and neighbors.