Personnel of Ghana Armed Forces donate to Dzorwulu Special School

Accra, March 18, GNA - Personnel of the Pay Office of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) on Wednesday donated food items to the inmates of Dzorwulu Special School in Accra. They included bags of rice, gallons of cooking oil, cartons of biscuits, fruit juice, crates of eggs, quantities of plastic buckets and cups and toiletries.

Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Kwasi Dzisi, Commanding Officer of the Pay Office who led the personnel, said it formed part of the Unit's civic responsibility to reach out to the underprivileged in the society.

He said the Unit was not interested in the monetary value of the items but the improvement in the living standards of the inmates who were intellectually handicapped. Lt-Col Dzisi expressed concern about the deteriorating conditions in specialised educational institutions and lauded efforts by the caregivers to sacrifice to ensure the inmates received the best of treatment for their overall development. He urged all and sundry not to turn a blind eye on inmates in specialised educational institutions, but rather donate towards their upkeep.

Mrs Veronica Sackey, Headmistress of DSS receiving the items thanked the Unit for its continued support. She said due to pressure on the facilities, the authorities with assistance from the government had begun expanding its dormitory and classroom facilities to accommodate the increasing number of inmates seeking admission. Mrs Sackey said currently, the school had 150 inmates with 200 more on the waiting list but could not gain admission because of limited facilities.

She said because of the peculiar nature of their conditions, the authorities had been helping them to acquire language, cognitive and interpersonal skills as well as vocational skills with specialisation in livestock keeping, sewing, catering and carpentry to make them self-employed. Mrs Sackey appealed for assistance to complete the on-going development projects.

Mr Tamba Gbessay, a teacher in the school, briefed the personnel on the causes of intellectual disability. He warned against smoking among women during pregnancy, drug abuse and putting women through emotional stress as some of the major causes. The DSS under the Ghana Education Service (GES), was established in 1970 to provide special needs education to intellectually disabled children.