Kesmi Fm Celebrates Easter With Mentally Retard Children

By Joseph Ziem

Children they say are gifts from God. No matter the appearance they come into this world with, parents are supposed to treat them with tender love and care. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Among most indigenous tribes in Ghana, children born with any form of disability particularly those with autism, multiple or single limbs, severe mental retardation among others, are always referred to as “spirit children” because of their strange behavior and physical appearance.

Those unfortunately born to heartless parents most often do not live to celebrate their fifth birth day as they are either intentionally poisoned to death or abandoned in a thick forest for wild beasts to devour.

However, those that are lucky are allowed to grow but are mostly also, denied their educational and health needs by parents who do not see any reason why they should invest in a somewhat ‘good-for-nothing-child’, as they describe them. These children are stigmatized, treated with contempt and as vulnerable as they are, subjected to all forms of abuses which are detrimental to their lives. Thus, the Mayor of Tamale Alhaji Abudulai Harruna Friday, has made a passionate appeal to parents who have given birth to children with any kind of disability to endeavour to take care of their educational and health needs.

According to him, most of such children are imbued with natural talent and with the right form of formal education and training, they could grow to become bigwigs in any profession they desire in life.

He made the appeal when he joined the Yumba Special School in Tamale as guest of honour during a get together organized by Ultimate Multimedia Company Limited, operators of Kesmi FM 107.1 MHz dubbed “Kesmi Easter Fest”.

Alhaji Friday said the deplorable state of the school, the only one of its kind serving the three regions of Northern Ghana– Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions, would henceforth be introduced to any investor who comes into the region to do business, so that such a measure could grab their benevolence and support.

The General Manager of Kesmi FM Fred Chidi, told this writer in an interview that, the company decided to choose the Yumba Special School amongst many deprived institutions in the Tamale Metropolis to show them some love in this period of Easter.

Another intention of the company, he noted, was to project the school to the entire nation and launch a fundraising appeal so that proceeds of the initiative could be used to provide recreational and learning materials for the children and as well as improve upon the school’s infrastructure. He hinted that the event was going to be annually, and appealed to the general public and corporate organizations to show their widows mite to the school through Kesmi FM as they celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Established some ten years ago by Mrs. Georgina Nuagah, an educationist, the Yumba Special School currently has over 100 pupils who are suffering from severe mental retardation often developed at birth. As a school for only mentally retard children, the method of teaching and learning is different from the normal formal system of education. According to Mrs. Nuagah who is currently the head-teacher of the school, children are taught daily living skills and vocational training.

She told this reporter that the biggest challenge facing the school was the extension of neglect of most children by their parents from the homes to the school, saying “most parents refuse to attend P.T.A meetings anytime they are invited. They still neglect such children even after enrolling them in school and feel that they [parents] will be stigmatized by other people who will see them when they attend P.T.A meetings.”

Mrs. Nuagah also complained about the erratic nature government provide funds needed to run the school citing for instance, the whole of last year when the late release of funds almost led to the closing down of the school had it not been the benevolence of some people.

According to her, the school currently owed some fuel filling stations up to the tune of about GH¢3,000.00 and further cited inadequate classrooms, lack of accommodation and a fence wall among others, as some of the challenges that had compelled authorities to operate the school as day instead of boarding.

The writer is a freelance journalist but regularly writes for The Daily Dispatch Newspaper. Views or comments may be sent to him via ziemjoseph@yahoo.com/ +233 207344104.