By Caesar Abagali
Jirapa, (U/W), Feb. 18, GNA – The Africa Centre for Human Rights and Sustainable Development (AfCHuRSD) aims to support over 100 Women and Girls with Disabilities (WGDs) in the Jirapa Municipality and Nadowli-Kaleo District of the Upper West Region.
So far, 30 of them had received support for their startups and another 20 enrolled in apprenticeship training, including hairdressing, tailoring and weaving.
The gesture is under the project, “Promoting Equal Rights for Women and Girls with Disabilities in Ghana (PERD) funded by the Netherlands Embassy in Ghana and jointly implemented by a three-member consortium, including (AfCHuRSD), Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) and Women in Need (WIN).
Mr Eric Adomako, the Finance Officer for AfCHuRSD, during the presentation of the items for the startups to beneficiaries in Jirapa Municipality and Nadowli-Kaleo District, disclosed that all the beneficiaries had already received the requisite financial literacy training last year to ensure efficient management of funds.
He said the purpose was to ensure that WGDs become self dependent and to eliminate the tendency of becoming a burden on their families due to their disabilities.
Mr Adomako said AfCHuRSD would not compromise on proper monitoring to ensure that beneficiaries would not waste the opportunity presented to them but would rather capitalize on that to change the narrative when it comes to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
Madam Lydia Kulinye, one of the beneficiaries, who is venturing into selling provisions, said the support would help her take care of her child’s education and pledged to dedicate her time to growing the business.
Madam Bernice Nubayele, another beneficiary, said she was hoping to save enough from her fruit-selling business so that she could buy a form next year for admission to pursue the Early Childhood Education programme at the University of Education, Winneba.
“I’m really grateful to AfCHuRSD and its partners for the support and I’m assuring them that I will give all my attention to the business to ensure it grows to help me realize my dreams”, she said.
Faustina Anglaara, who received her support earlier, said her business was already supporting her to pay her fees/transportation at Jackson College and expressed gratitude to all the organizations collaborating to bring them the project.
Gladys Kuntonba, a beneficiary learning hairdressing, also thanked the project partners for helping her learn a skill she could use to support herself and her family.
In another development, AfCHuRSD also visited the Dr Godfrey S. Bacheyie Workshop for the Disabled in Jirapa in the company of the Jirapa Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Nicholas Soyiri.
The purpose was to assess the extent of damage to a portion of the building that was razed by fire recently.
Madam Stella Gyaburah, the In-Charge of the Centre, received a small donation of materials from AfCHuRSD and expressed her gratitude to the organisation for the gesture.
She said they could not work currently because all the tools were destroyed in the fire and appealed for support to rehabilitate the room ahead of the rainy season.
The MCE said the Assembly was supporting the PWDs in the District through the timely disbursement of the Disability Common Fund to beneficiaries and appealed for assistance from organisations and Ghanaians to rehabilitate the portion of the building that got burnt.
GNA