Start Now

Über uns

Established in 2012 by a blind person, as a non-profit organization and training provider, manage primarily by highly qualified blind professionals, Start Now provides an innovative orientation, computer literacy and rehabilitation training program, and most important, a positive philosophy about blindness.

Vision statement:
The vision of Start Now is that the Gambia and Africa will be wide known for a high percentage of visually impaired people enrolling in higher education and various qualified jobs.

Mission statement:
To empower blind and partially sighted high school graduates and adolescents by providing a quality computer and rehabilitation training as a preparation for higher education and employment.

Objectives:
• To open up new opportunities for the visually impaired by preparing blind high school graduates for higher education and employment.
• To promote equal rights and responsibilities of visually impaired people in general.
• To create awareness by talking publicly about success stories and challenges of visually impaired people in the Gambia and Africa at large.
• To request the Ministry of education and donor partners to assist in establishing the preparatory training center.
• To collaborate with the ministry of education in order to ease integration of blind and partially sighted students into higher education
• To network with the private and public sectors to increase chances of employment for the visually impaired through internship.
• To network with interested individuals, specialized nongovernmental organizations and Kanthari graduates within the Gambia, in Africa and all around the world in order to work on the mutual aim to empower people with disabilities
• To open the course to interested blind students within Africa.

Projects:
• Start Now Computer Training Institute (SNCTI) is a training center under Start Now Organization. SNCTI offers wide range of training programs and services for the visually impaired through the following main projects.
• Jump High: Jump High is a project under Start Now Organization with the sole aimed of creating job placement and internship opportunities for visually impaired people in the Gambia. The project is focus on building their self esteem by transforming them into change agent and leaders in various communities and sensitizing the society about the need for a social change. The activities that the project set for itself will be advocacy and awareness creation in different parts of the country were talk shows and national TV will be hold. We want to see visually impaired people as leaders and community developers.
• Step Higher: The project is aim at preparing blind high school graduates for higher education. The Step Higher is a nine months orientation and adjustment training to legally blind adults and adolescence seeking for higher education. The full training curriculum for the Step Higher includes computer literacy/keyboarding, Braille, cane travel, , independent living skills, seminar, and college preparation. All classes emphasize the development of self-confidence and a positive attitude towards blindness.

Alieu Jaiteh is the Founder/Director of Start Now.

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.