Changing the Game - One Click at a Time…
In the heart of Sierra Leone’s bustling cities, in neighborhoods shaped by both struggle and dreams, we are on a mission to empower 1000 young women. Through skills, community, and opportunities.
Imagine a life where a young woman has access to the education, skills, and community support needed to create a better future. Where she feels safe walking through her neighborhood. A life where she can dream big, express herself, and know that her voice matters. This is the vision driving our work in the Change the Game programme. Meet some of the game changers and learn about their visions in this photo story. Oh, and did you buy a Christmas Calendar last year for December? Then you are part of the change too!
Bridging the Digital Gap in Sierra Leone
In Sierra Leone, access to technology is still a luxury for many. Digital access for youth faces significant barriers, yet the need for increased connectivity and digital literacy is pressing. Limited access to technology and internet services at an accessible cost are big issues. Despite improvements, much of the infrastructure is still underdeveloped, leaving many people without reliable access to digital tools that could empower them economically and socially. For young people, particularly women, the gap is even wider. Many lack the skills and resources to engage with the digital world, limiting their opportunities for education, employment, connections, and information.
Angella Hawa Fabai is one of the students in the IT classes with our partners Youth Dream Center in Freetown. She reflects on the link between women and their role in IT: “In our country it is very common women and girls are being misused. There are also things where women and girls are not allowed to participate just because of the perspective that people are having that we are weak, we cannot do things and all. So I just think that this is an opportunity for me to give back to society. We live in a world of technology, whereas people get information from social media, and I think ICT, coming into this, will help me to actualise my dreams. I'm someone who is very passionate about my goals in life”.
Angella is a student with Youth Dream Center in Freetown
Abie Gbundema
“I believe computer knowledge goes a long way for you, for women in general. It helps empower them to improve on their skills”
10 IT hubs - 1000 young women
Dreamtown is working with Youth Dream Center and a network of 10 IT hubs in other non-formal education centers to bridge this gap by providing young women with access to essential digital skills training. The Change the Game programme is a result of the annual ‘Christmas Calendar’ in Denmark, done by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collab with Danish Broadcasting Corporation. In 2023, we put attention to Sierra Leone together with our partners in FANT and Youth Dream Center Sierra Leone, when kids all over Denmark learned about the amazing country. Now - we get to make impact out of the profit from the calendar sales.
At the core of our project are 1,000 young women between the ages of 15 and 25. The leaders in our coming generation. Whether it’s learning to navigate computers, understanding software and hardware, or gaining practical IT skills, they start the digital journey by gaining tools they need to thrive in an increasingly digital world. This helps them open doors to a brighter, more connected future, where they can build careers, contribute to their communities, and take lead towards other girls and young women.
The IT hubs are integrated into vocational training centers that offer skills training to youth. These spaces are instrumental in providing young people with the opportunity to learn essential skills, to improve their employment prospects and entrepreneurial endeavors. Addressing the digital gap is critical not only for improving job opportunities but also for enabling young people to become active participants in the digital economy, and for creating a more equitable society where access to information and resources is available to all.
And so many of the women who are learning are passionate about passing skills on and giving to others - like Fudia Dumbuya: “I'm living among my ladies that are struggling, I will be in the position to help them, to support them, so I can be able to support them. So if I learn these skills, and I have an idea about that, I will be able to help them, to teach them also. Because we the ladies struggle a lot in this street. Some of them are there doing nothing. They are moving around the street. So my aim is to help others, our young ladies”.
Fudia Dumbuya
“My aim is to help others, our young ladies”
Rashidatu Turay
“We are living in a modern world, everything we do now is all about technology. You're going to the hospitals, offices, schools, it's all about technology”
“No one will laugh at you here”
Youth Dream Center is a special place for many young people. And for many, it is not only a school where you learn technical skills. It is also a family, a community, a place where people believe in you after others did not. And the psychosocial and supportive aspect of YDC is important.
Rebecca Fatmata Bangura talks about her experience from being a student in the non-formal school: “I am young. I have a great future in front of me. And I have the potential, so I want to do more. And with the help from YDC, I can go far. More great things will come for me in life. So I am focused. After YDC, I want to have my own big department to teach other people the skills I have learned - I want others to learn what I have learned. Because the teachers at YDC gave me courage to learn. I was thinking: There is also life for me. And people also told me. I went and talked to YDC, I said: "I want to learn". I said, "But people will laugh at me". They said, "No one will laugh at you here - you can do it".
Rebecca Fatmata Bangura in her home - she is a students with YDC in Freetown
For Binta Jabbie, YDC-SL’s belief in her abilities reignited her own self-belief. She is one of the many young people in Sierra Leone who was not able to further her education due to financial constraints. “Even if I have that thought in me that says ‘I can't do this, I will not be able to do this, I will not be able’. But from the moment I entered the vocational, I have confidence in myself”, she says. This transformation is not unique. Across the center, young people discover their inner strength, encouraged by a community that sees their potential even when they struggle to see it themselves: “I just like when people believe in me, like I don't like people doubting me. If you have confidence in me to say, this you can do this, so it makes me happy, it makes me to feel more about myself”.
This makes YDC and the IT hubs a community that uplifts and supports. And where learning extends far beyond technical skills. It is a place where young people find a sense of belonging, empowerment, and support. For many, YDC-SL becomes a family, offering an environment where they feel valued and believed in. It is in the center's culture of to have acceptance and encouragement, so no one feels judged for starting over or reaching for their goals.
Binta Jabbie
“I can do this, and I will do it”
Collaboration for Change
Dreamtown’s approach overall is rooted in the belief that when young people are given the space and support to thrive, entire communities benefit - and the other way around. Through strategic partnerships with vocational education providers across Sierra Leone, we’re creating such spaces - tailored to fit the unique needs of each community. With skills like IT, tailoring, and catering, ensuring that young women can secure income-generating opportunities and build a future of independence.
None of this would be possible without the tireless work of our partners. Dreamtown has been collaborating with YDC-SL (Youth Dream Center-Sierra Leone) since 2010, and together, we’ve built a powerful network of organisations that know the communities we work with inside and out. Our partners bring decades of experience in education and youth empowerment. Our collab also includes engaging local authorities, families, and communities in the conversation. Because in the end – for the game to really change – we need to influence attitudes, break down harmful gender norms, build a supportive environment where young women are valued and protected, and can access opportunities.
Isatu Mansaray is the project lead for the Change the Game programme, and explains: “I will love to see young women using the knowledge they have acquired from the training to create job opportunities for themselves and become ICT trainers. Since there are very few ICT female trainers in the country as of now. They will also use this skill to advertise their businesses by creating fliers, banners, complementary cards etc. I am expecting that before the end of Change the Game Project girls and young women will be an ambassador of gender-based violence prevention in their schools, family, community and country as a whole”.
A school for safety too
Bintu Conteh, one of the students at African Costume Center in Kono who are part of the IT hubs
In the bustling communities of Sierra Leone, where challenges like gender-based violence and early marriage weigh heavily on young women, YDC and the other community learning centers are not just an educational institution; they also provide safe spaces where young women can find support, and a renewed sense of agency. For many participants, the center is also their first experience of a community that actively protects and advocates for their rights. Change the Game not only changes access for women to skills and learning - but also puts focus on the violence that girls and women experience in Sierra Leone.
The country faces high rates of gender-based violence, with incidents of sexual harassment, domestic abuse, and early marriages being alarmingly common. Unsafety for women and girls links to inequality, and heavily limits opportunities for women and girls. They are disproportionately affected by poverty, lack of education, and cultural norms that normalise violence. That is also why one of Dreamtown and partners’ key missions is to create safe spaces. Spaces that allow young women and girls to grow, learn, and express themselves without fear. And to empower them to challenge harmful norms and advocate for their rights. Safety is not just about protection from harm; it is about creating an environment where every person can imagine and work towards a future free from fear, violence, and limitations.
Bintu Conteh, one of YDC’s students, aspires to bring about systemic change. Her dream of becoming a lawyer is rooted in a desire to champion justice for girls and women in Sierra Leone, especially those unable to afford legal aid: “I came from a very poor background. I want to talk for the poor people in my country, because the country is full of violence, sexual harassment for girls. Nowadays if you do not have money - if you are raped, you go and report, if you do not have money you do not have rights, and the case will just be lost. I want to help you with or without money, I want to give justice”.
With the women in the programme, and all those they reach - we push little by little for each community to recognize the equal worth of men and women, and how perpetrators of violence must be held accountable. And see that the safety of women and girls is everyone’s business.
Hawa Sankoh
“Us women, we live every day in fear of violence. With the help of the project, we no longer live in fear. Now people react.”
Mariama Koroma
“I tell the women: early marriage is very bad. You are not born for a man to treat you anyhow. It is not good to depend on a man anymore”
From Surviving to Thriving:
A Vision for the Future
The Change the Game project is not just about providing immediate support; it’s about creating lasting change. By investing in the next generation of leaders, we are shaping a future where young girls and women can thrive — free from violence, with access to education, and with the skills to shape their own destinies.
As the girls and young women in Sierra Leone take charge of their futures, they are changing the game. They are breaking barriers and challenging norms. Join us in transforming lives - one student, one IT-hub, and one community at a time!
Thanks to everyone who supported by getting the 2023 Christmas Calendar! And for the collab to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, DR, FANT and everyone who supported the campaign in Sierra Leone.
