The Social Welfare Department of the Shai-Osudoku District Assembly has donated to 77 Persons with Disability (PWDs) in the Shai Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region
From the District Disability Fund Programme, seventy-seven (77) beneficiaries received items, including Corn mill, deep freezers, multi door- 400 litters refrigerator, Sewing machine, cartons of metallic cages, Weedicide, pairs of cutlasses, wheel chair, Crutches and pair of hearing aid.
While other beneficiaries were given wheel chairs, welding machines and life-sustaining aids, thirty (30) visually-impaired students from public schools in the district received reading aid lenses.
At the presentation ceremony Friday at the forecourt of the Assemby, Hon. Daniel Teye Akuffo, Shai-Osudoku District Chief Executive (DCE), said the Disability Fund Support Programme was one of the social intervention programmes dear to the heart of His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo that sought to improve the socio-economic life of the disabled.
Hon. Akuffo cautioned the beneficiaries that the donations were to assist them to improve on their total well-being.
He, therefore, urged them to take good care of the items and not sell them, but use them for the purposes for which they were intended, adding that a monitoring team will be detailed to ascertain how they would be using the items and monies given them.
Hon. Akuffo also emphasized the need for PWDs to adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols, which include frequent washing of their hands under running water for at least 20 seconds; use of 70% alcohol-based sanitizers; wearing of their face masks when going into public space and the observation of social distancing, put out by the Ghana Health Service in the fight against the global pandemic.
Present at the ceremony were Mr. Fredrick Akiti, District Co-ordinating Director and Hon. Noah Sabutey, Presiding Member.
In an interview, a beneficiary, Francis, expressed gratitude to the Shai-Osudoku District Assembly for the gesture and pledged on behalf of the other beneficiaries to put the tools provided them to good use.
In 2019, a total amount of Ghc82, 818 was approved and disbursed to 106 persons with disability.
Physically blind Farmer, who also doubles as President of Shai Osudoku district blind Union, Mr Gbolongo Seth, thanked government as well as the Shai Osudoku district assembly for coming to their aid in this difficult era of COVID-19.
He however, appealed to government to release their share of the PWDs fund in the right time subsequently to make their living meaningful.
Mr. Gbolongo opined that the deadly COVID-19 has highly exposed their fear to the extreme, frustrating the unknown ‘status’ of individuals who aid Persons with Disabilities in their day to day activities possessed neither negative nor positive on the pandemic since they had no choice of assistant for help.
By: Austin Ofori Addo/austinofori.addo@gmail.com
