Friday 31st August 2007
By Nfamara Jawneh
Disability Doesn’t Mean Inability
The Female Wing Director of the Gambia Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (GADHOH), Mrs Isatou Sanyang have said that being disable doesn’t actually means been unable.
The GADHOH female wings Director, herself a disabled person, made these remarks in an exclusive interview with this reporter yesterday at her office in Latri Kunda Sabiji.
According to her, disabled people can when empowered, also contribute meaningfully towards socio-economic development of the country in the same measure as, or even more than able people. " We have our senses to learn skills and help ourselves, family, and country, like any other person. " she said that at the female wing they enroll deaf children between 4-7 years at the nursery school and also train deaf adults on knitting, bakery, soap and omo making, sign language, tie and dye. " When we train them in these areas they can employ themselves and by and large contribute to national development and keep their families," she added.
She commended Buganala foundation in the Netherlands, through Mrs Marieke IJsendoorn for building their new building in Kanifing. The new building, she said, would make their operators easy for them. She reveals that the new building cost millions of dalasis and we are expecting it to finish by end of December 2007. She revealed that the "Lions Club Balk Tusken Mar en Klif" of Netherlands for expressing their interest in developing the new schools in Brikama.
Madam Sanyang also commended SHIA, a Swedish Association of the Deaf, for their continued support to the female wing.
She finally appealed to parents with deaf children, to send their children of 4-7 years old to the female wing when schools open in September so that they can learn skills and acquire knowledge