Sustainability

Sustainability is a key pillar of our work. We believe focusing on ongoing relationships and local capacity building and ownership is the best way to catalyse meaningful long term change.

Our objective is for Diam Rek to become fully self sufficient within Senegal and The Gambia and we are moving towards this by creating a team of past beneficiaries who will lead the charity in the future. We feel it is of the utmost importance that in the future the operation is able to run this way because it is only members of the local Disability Community who can truly understand and decide on their needs and the best ways of achieving them.

We prioritise long-term sustainability by using WHO-approved monitoring and evaluation systems to support continuous growth and improvement. Alongside this, we provide training for beneficiaries and their families and friends, to ensure proper use and maintenance of the wheelchairs. Each chair is supplied with a basic repair kit and we use models with parts that can be easily sourced and replaced locally. We also work closely with communities to strengthen local disability networks, encouraging peer training and creating support systems such as community WhatsApp groups to ensure ongoing connection and shared learning.