Emotions ran high at Bechem in the Ahafo Region when the Tano South Municipal Assembly presented livelihood support to 74 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) to help them secure decent livelihoods and live independently.
PWDs with chronic health conditions received medical assistance to improve their well-being, while others were provided with educational support to help them remain in school.
For some of the beneficiaries, receiving the support was an emotional experience, as they were held by their caregivers and guided to the presentation point, while others had to be carried to receive their items.
Tears
Some could not hold back their tears as they received their packages.
The emotional scene brought into focus the challenges faced by some PWDs and the importance of the support in helping them become economically self-reliant.
The items included refrigerators, deep freezers, fufu-pounding machines, spraying machines, industrial sewing machines and bales of used clothes.
Others received wheelchairs, hair dryers, soap-making and baking materials, leatherwork and container kiosks.
Some PWD students also received scholarship packages and laptops to support their education.
Street begging
At the presentation last Wednesday, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Emmanuel Kwame Frimpong, said every individual had a role to play in the development of the country and, therefore, PWDs needed the necessary support to become productive members of society.
He said the government’s objective was to support PWDs to establish sustainable livelihoods and discourage them from resorting to street begging for survival.
Mr Frimpong said the assembly had been able to procure more items for beneficiaries following the government’s increase in the allocation under the Disability Common Fund from three to five per cent.
He urged the public to patronise goods and services provided by PWDs, noting that some members of the public had developed the habit of refusing to transact business with persons with disabilities.
Mr Frimpong added that disability could affect anyone and emphasised that the distribution was carried out without political considerations.
Caution
Mr Frimpong cautioned the beneficiaries against selling the items, saying that the purpose of the intervention was to provide them with sustainable means of livelihood.
He said selling the items could deprive them of their means of income and eventually send them back to the streets to beg.
The Municipal Director of Social Welfare and Community Development, Gladys Zuuri, said the government initiated the programme to ensure that PWDs were not compelled to stay on the streets.
She urged them to use the items for their intended purposes to generate income and support themselves and their families.
She said the intervention would also contribute to improving the assembly’s revenue as the beneficiaries established and expanded their businesses.
Ms Zuuri explained that PWDs who were government workers were not included in the programme.
Appreciation
The Ankobiahene of the Bechem Traditional Council, Nana Addai Asuponteng, thanked the assembly for the support and advised the beneficiaries to make good use of the items.
He urged them to seek further knowledge and skills in the businesses they intended to establish to enable them to manage them successfully.
On behalf of the beneficiaries, Victor Atuahene, a Level 300 student of the Wesley College of Education (WESCO), pledged that they would use the items for their intended purposes.
Mr Atuahene, who received a laptop, said the support would help improve his studies and academic performance.
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