Building on the success of the pilot program, KT(Tz) along with DPOs at national and district level, developed a project to enable the work to continue and expand. The experience of the pilot project enabled us to identify a “Theory of Change” which describes how people with disabilities can change the perceptions and attitudes of local service providers, elected and appointed leaders and their communities to be more positive towards their potential.
Through awareness raising activities (like talks with community groups, radio messages and positive news stories) and action research, local groups of persons with disabilities were supported to highlight the barriers they face and to work in partnership with decision-makers and communities to have them reduced. In this way, people with disabilities will come to be regarded as essential contributors to all community development activities and will no longer have to rely on charity.
For more details about the pilot project and ICAAD, see project document.
Kesho Trust (Tz) is committed to using the experience from ICAAD to inform all its project activities. The relationships we have established with DPOs at national and regional level will help us to make connections to people with disabilities in these areas, but as we expand ICAAD we hope to connect more of our current partners and communities to this network. This will mean that in the future, we will be able to include groups of persons with disabilities in our conservation work, enriching and expanding everyone’s experiences.