By Philip Tengzu
Wa, Aug. 17, GNA – The Wa Methodist School for the Blind on Wednesday appealed to the government, benevolent organisations and individuals to help make the school campus disability friendly.
Reverend Grace Amoako, the Headmistress, said the campus was being destroyed by erosion, making movement of the visually impaired children a challenge and called for reshaping of the campus to enable free movement of the students.
She made the appeal when the Rotary Clubs of Wa and Accra Ridge, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Southport Links – United Kingdom, donated a sightbox to the school.
A sightbox is a container filled with equipment, which provides visually impaired children with the technology needed to access sports and have a more independent lifestyle.
The one presented to the school contains a boccia and boccia grid, goal ball, large and small handballs, parachute canopy, blindfolds, running tethers, and marker cones, to help the visually impaired in their sporting activities.
While expressing gratitude to the Rotary Club and its partners for their support to the school, Rev. Amoako appealed for help to alleviate the plight of the school children by creating a conducive environment for teaching and learning.
“The children have been falling because of the potholes. The running water has destroyed the whole campus. If we could get chippings or even sand to level the campus it would be of great help to us,” she said.
She, however, gave the assurance that the sports items would be put to good use to enhance the lifestyles of the students.
Mr Stephen Mwinkaara, the Rotary President, Rotary Club of Wa, assured the school’s authorities of the commitment of the Club to reducing the challenges the school faces.
He noted that the Club prioritised the need for the visually impaired students to have access to social and recreational services, including sports, who were oftentimes excluded from social and recreational activities.
Mr Mwinkaara said their access to sports would help improve their academic performance adding that the sightboxes were learning tools to help make learning easier for students.
“Solving problems takes more commitment and vision. Our clubs work together to promote peace, fight diseases, provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, save mothers and children, support education, grow local economies, and protect our environment,” he said.
The Rotary Club of Wa and its partners invested 65,580.00 dollars on projects and activities including health screening, donation of wheelchairs, and drilling of boreholes for communities in the Upper West Region within the 2021/2022 rotatory year.
GNA