An inclusion activist and founder of the Vigilo Mobility Foundation Jenifer Mensah Bonzie has decried what she describes as a culture of neglect that continues to exclude persons with disability from full and equal participation in Ghanaian society.
On her return to Ghana, more than two decades after relocating to the United States of America in 1996, she is baffled by Ghanaian society, and the built environment remains largely unfriendly to Persons like herself.
Jenifer shared her deep concerns with GHONE NEWS when she led VIGILO to donate some 40 mobility aids to the Ghana Society for the Physically Disabled in the Ashanti Regional Capital Kumasi.
She bemoaned, “The culture we lack here is about diversity and inclusiveness. I cannot expect Ghana to rise from a one to a hundred but we can start somewhere.
“At least some acceptance and acknowledgment and knowing that when we are all-inclusive, we all win. There is always ability in every disability,” she emphasized.
Encouraging the physically challenged at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, she recounted how she was diagnosed with polio at the age of 3 and referred to the Orthopedic Training Centre in Nsawam to learn to walk with mobility aids.
Jenifer narrated how her life hit a turning point when some advocates from the Netherlands and the United States of America came to her aid and supported her at a time when her family couldn’t afford her walking aid.
This year Vigilo Mobility Foundation reached out to four areas including Kumasi, the Muslim Community of NIMA in the Greater Accra Region, the Orthopedic Training Centre which received items worth some US$20,000 and the Northern Regional Capital, Tamale where some 200 artisans and small business owners with disabilities are being impacted.
Apart from Ghana’s disability-unfriendly roads that gave the team A harrowing experience on the tour, a major issue that has gotten Jenifer disturbed is domestic air travel which has no provision for persons with disability; despite all the provisions in the Persons with Disability Act 715.
“There are no ramps for domestic flights. No matter how challenging your disability is, you have to hop on that flight by pulling yourself. A flight attendant told me that is why they don’t sell flight tickets to the disabled.”
“There was a sixty-year-old woman with polio and recently diagnosed with cancer. They had this lady crawl with her palm on the floor onto the aircraft and crawl through the aisle to sit behind me. How cruel?” SHE ASKED.
Members on her team who joined her to Ghana have had it tough processing the difficulties persons with Disability face going about their daily commutes in Ghana.
A team Member: Clifflene Rush Murphy who used the Kumasi Airport, advocated that persons with disability be allowed to make inputs into the building of airports and other public facilities to make them more inclusive.
“The Airport is beautiful but persons with disability had to walk down a long rump that had like three walkways. There were no seats outside the airport and it broke my heart. I feel that with all the reorganization and the building of the new facility, they should have had people who are physically challenged on the board, to give their ideas and their insights to make it inclusive for everyone,” she advised.
The 2024 outreach which costs Vigilo Mobility Foundation US$30,000 is the fourth of Jenifer’s annual visits to her home country to give back to society by empowering, inspiring and providing for persons with disability.
Project Manager and Director of Development at Vigilo Simone Henry expressed need for more support to push the vision to empower more PWDs with mobility aids and accessibility training centers.
““The vision is to have our own center for the physically challenged; to educate the children because it starts with them; and to bring more awareness. They should go to vigilomobility.org and know that no donation is small,” she encouraged.
Through Vigilo Mobility Foundation; physically challenged beneficiaries walked home with brand new mobility aids for free, enhancing their outlooks and boosting their confidence.
Expressing his appreciation, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Ghana Society for the Physically Disabled Steven Gyan was positive the donation will especially empower members of their fold who cannot afford these devices.
“these items are very expensive on the market. I have on my table a number of requests from members who cannot afford to purchase them for their mobility. We are grateful that some of them can now get these ones so their movements can be eased up,” he noted.
Apart from the donation of items worth some 20,000 dollars to the Orthopedic Training Centre and the free distribution of mobility aids, Jenifer Bonzie is also investing in a project to build an accessible resource center in Ghana, to educate and train persons with disability.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Ivan Heathcote – Fumador
