Family reunites with hearing-impaired daughter after 5-year search

It was a swell of emotions and tears of joy when Mariama a hearing-impaired lady was reunited with her family on the premises of Nhyira 104.5 FM after almost six years of searching.

Mariama now 31 years old, went missing at the age of 26 after she unceremoniously left her marital home in a village called Agogo Moosi Panin in the Asante Akyim North Municipality of the Ashanti Region without a trace.

Persons who found her in distress on the streets of Kumasi, unable to hear nor speak, sent her to the New Life Charity Home at Mmrom, a care facility run by Catholic Nuns.

The Sisters named her Mary Grace allowing her to shelter at the facility while the police and Social Welfare Department figured out measures to locate her family.

A magnanimous social worker with the Manhyia South Sub Metro office of the Social Welfare Department Catherin Dansowaa Amoako took personal charge to search for the family of the lady when she learnt of her predicament in 2019.

The turning point of the years of search happened when Catherine, contacted the Seasoned Counsellor and host of the Obra Show Mrs. Eleanor Effe Amanor affectionately called Mama Effe; to seek an audience for the plight of the vulnerable lady.

On Wednesday 7th August 2024, Mama Effe hosted Mariama and her Social Worker in an emotive interview on her afternoon radio show also televised nationwide on Adom Television.

Touched by her plight, Mama Effe appealed to the public, prayed a Christian and Muslim prayer which went viral and as if to prophesy, assured that Mariama’s family would be found the following day.

True to her prayer, the station received a pleasant call from a family who identified Mariama as their daughter who had gone missing for several years.

Search Efforts:

Narrating the happenings, Catherine who could not hold back her tears recounted how she began her search in 2019, the ordeal she suffered while Mariama went missing again for a year and how she was found and brought back to the care home, until the intervention of the Obra Team.

“When we realized she was deaf and couldn’t speak, we wrote a report which was signed by the Regional Social Welfare Director and forwarded same to the Zango Police Station to begin the search.”

“After two years at the care home, she joined the sisters for the catholic pilgrimage at the St Mary's Sanctuary Buoho Grotto but lost her way again and went missing.”

“We located her after a year when a colleague with our Kwame Antwi Community Development Office called in that a good Samaritan had brought her. So I took her back to the home still hopeful that any media station would announce that someone of her description had gone missing,” she recalled.

Catherine said she was compelled to reach out for support from Mama Effe when the care home reported that Mary Grace had fallen into a worrisome state of depression.

“For about six months now, she has been crying, refusing to eat and sleeping all day. She wouldn’t relate to anybody. We realized this lady wanted to see the family.

“I called Mama Effe, who is like a mother to me and told her this was the problem we were encountering at our end. She was then outside the country so she asked me to hold on a while. She called me last week to be on the show. When they opened the phone lines, lucky for us, her uncle called,” she said with joy.

Family Reunion

Uncle of the missing lady Nana Awudu Kasim, a Zango Chief at Effiduase Nkwankwaanua in the company of two other relatives were overjoyed to see Mariama alive after several years of searching to no avail.

He disclosed that Mariama was married off to an elderly man as a second wife. Nana Kasim said the family couldn’t tell what must have pushed her to leave home while her husband had travelled, suspecting that she might have suffered ill-treatment in her polygamous marital home.

Nana Awudu Kasim was full of praise for Mama Effe and her team for showing such deep concern and for supporting the search efforts through the Obra Show.

“The family back in the village are dying to get here after hearing the news. We are so grateful to Mama Effe for the good work she continues to do that has given her such a wide listenership. But for her, our daughter would have been still missing,” he commented.

Sharing in the happiness of the family, Host of the Obra Show Mama Effe acknowledged how such modest success stories inspire and spur her on, in her mission to touch lives; bring hope and peace to families and make a positive impact on society.

“When such cases come, you feel encouraged and motivated to go on knowing that even if people around you don’t acknowledge your efforts, people outside and the Lord in Heaven see what I am doing,” she shared.

Mama Effe explained she was confident that Mariama’s parents were definitely going to locate her because of the national and global reach of her well-patronized show which not only airs on Nhyira FM in Kumasi; but is also telecasted nationwide on Adom TV which can be accessed globally on the Dstv and GoTv platforms as well as the show’s social media handles and YouTube Channel.

“Many people were worried that she could not hear nor speak. So what I did was to gesture to her to stand for the cameras to capture her. Then I said all over the world, just look at this beautiful lady. For five years, she has been missing. Please help me to find the family of this beautiful lady. That was it,” she averred.

“We initially presumed she had a child and that she must have come from the North to Kumasi, not knowing anywhere here. It was until the family member came and said she was married at the age of 26 to an old man and that they lived somewhere called Moosi Panin,” she added.

Mama Effe disclosed that the social welfare department was handling the necessary documentation and procedures to ensure Mariama was safely reunited with her family.

Mama Effe has further offered to support Mariama go through a thorough medical checkup, provide her with some psychological counselling and make arrangements for Mariama to learn some basic sign language to aid her communication abilities.

A member of the Obra Team Lady Pastor Okyei Baffour was overcome by the scenes of the reunion which saw Mariama smile for the first time in a long while.

“It’s a heartfelt matter and very emotional. I was driven to pray for a successful outcome knowing that she is someone who cannot talk, show her direction or tell what happened to her... And wow! The family came over and I couldn’t help but say ‘God I thank you.’”

Commending the host for igniting hope in situations of despair, she admitted, “Mama Effe is not a court but she has stood in as a lawyer for many people physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. I can only say she is a package of gold and her show is distinct because she makes an impact and gives results,”

A visibly satisfied Catherin Dansoaa Amoako appealed for families to pay greater attention to vulnerable persons with disability and offer them all the support and care they require to live fulfilling and happy lives.