Visually impaired woman braces odds to progress
Disability is definitely not inability. This popular saying has explicitly been proven by a 25-year-old visually impaired woman who, amidst the struggles and challenges, did not allow her condition to stifle her efforts to achieve her future dreams.
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Ms Grace Annabi is a third-year student of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) reading Bachelor of Education and Arts.
Even though she became visually impaired at age 13, she was determined to pursue her education and realise her dreams.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Ms Annabi said she lost both parents when she was a baby and ended up at an orphanage in the Volta Region where she grew up.
After she became blind, the owner of the orphanage refused to take her to school.
“The owner of the orphanage said it was useless to take a visually impaired person to school because it was a complete waste of resources and that nothing good would come out of it so he did not take me to school,” she said.
She said she spoke to a lot of people to persuade the owner of the orphanage to take her to school but all the attempts proved futile.
Education
Fortunately for her, a Good Samaritan came to her aid and took her to the Akropong School for the Blind where she received tuition until she completed her junior high school (JHS) education in 2009.
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She said after JHS, she went back to the orphanage but things were quite difficult for her due to the fact that her financier was no longer in the capacity to take care of her.
Ms Annabi said at that point, she gave up as there was no hope of support to help her further her education at the senior high school (SHS).
The situation became worse and she had to find alternative means of taking care of herself. She, therefore, resorted to burning wood to produce charcoal and also made toffees, among other things, for sale to make a living.
She said through that initiative, she met a man who led her to Dr Kofi Osei-Kusi, founder of the Osei-Kusi Foundation (OKF).
She said through the scholarship scheme of the OKF for brilliant, needy students, including the visually and hearing impaired students, she was supported through the senior high school after she passed her Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
She gained admission to the Okuapeman Senior High School where she read General Arts and completed in 2013.
She passed her West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and gained admission to the University of Cape Coast (UCC) where she is currently pursuing her undergraduate course.
Ambition
Ms Annabi said she had always dreamt to be a journalist but due to the challenges she encountered, that dream was on hold.
She is, however, optimistic that after her first degree, she would be able to secure a job and save enough money to pursue her postgraduate course in Journalism.
“For now, my dream of being a journalist is on hold, but that would be pursued after my first degree, I will revisit it,” she stated.
Appeal
Grace made a passionate appeal to philanthropists, institutions and organisations to donate to the OKF to help it continue with its good works.
She added that the foundation catered for her tuition, provisions, pocket money and other things she required to be comfortable on and off campus, stressing that, “Dr Osei-Kusi and his people are doing a great job. Some parents would not even go to that extent to provide our needs.”
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She added that, there were other people who benefited from the foundation and so people should come to their aid.
“The foundation needs more financial and material resources so that it can continue to take care of our needs and that is why I am making this appeal to the general public to support the foundation,” she added.
OKF
The Osei-Kusi Foundation (OKF) is a resource development organisation helping to transform the lives of thousands of young people by providing them with tools, resources and training to make an impact on the development of the nation, and outside the country as well.
OKF was birthed out of the passion that Dr Osei-Kusi has for the youth. For two decades, he has been involved in mentoring young people, many of who are now corporate executives, business owners and church leaders.
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According to him, his foundation was established to invest in the training of young people to acquire leadership skills for development.