By Foday Moriba Conteh
As part of their support in raising awareness on children living with Autism, Orange Foundation-Sierra Leone has on Wednesday 31st March, 2021 sealed partnership with the Sierra Leone Autistic Society. The event took place at Orange Headquarters at Hill Station in Freetown.
Speaking during the ceremony, Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Autistic Society, Mary Penntimity, expressed appreciation to Orange Foundation for the partnership which ,she said, will push them a long way towards their mandate as an organization.
She revealed that World Autism Awareness Day is an internationally recognized day which is recognized on the 2nd of April every year, during which period countries are encouraged to take measures to raise awareness about people with autistic spectrum disorders.
Mary Penntimity noted that her organization has been providing support for autistic children, young people and their families in Sierra Leone since inception, adding that they started with few children but now runs play schemes, have youth groups and support groups, furthering that their activities are providing vital community support and reducing the profound and dangerous isolation of autistic children furthering that they have also succeeded in establishing a school for these children.
The Director of Orange Foundation, Jestina Betts, said that when she took over as Director of the Foundation she had the passion to do something especially with regards addressing issues relating to children in the country saying that children living with Autism need more attention, furthering that growing up she came across children living with Autism and that she has always wanted to help raising the awareness on Autism.
She added that World Autism Awareness Day is an internationally recognized day on the 2nd April every year geared towards raising awareness about people with autism and it against that backdrop they decided to partner with the Sierra Leone Autistic Society in order to give their support as a Foundation with the strong conviction that such will be helpful.
The Director noted that they are very committed to see that they render their support to them in order to include them in digital inclusion, furthering that although they have disability they should not be discriminated against but rather should be seen as very important children in society.
