The South Saharan Social Development Organization, SSDO, a non –governmental organization, NGO, and the wife of Anambra State governor, Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano, have put smiles on the faces of 50 persons with disabilities by empowering them with equipment and seed money to start mobile phone repaid business. The beneficiaries, comprising 30 males and 20 females drawn from various parts of Anambra State, were trained for three months at the Aguleri Rehabilitation Centre by SSDO, with the support of Oxfam Novib, an international donor agency.
At an impressive passing out ceremony at Aguleri, each beneficiary received a laptop, a comprehensive mobile phone repair kit and some amount of money from the country director of SSDO, Mrs. Grace Chinegwundoh-Nwobodo, while the wife of Anambra State governor, Mrs. Obiano promised to provide each of them with a generating set to avoid hiccups associated with epileptic public power supply.
In her speech, Mrs. Nwobodo said her organization was committed to making development happen for vulnerable people, assuring that anyone who passed through the programme and was empowered, could live full productive life for the over all benefit of the society. The same number of people have also been trained in Enugu State. She said: “The three months training programme was broken down into two parts, the hardware and software components, to ensure that the trainees obtained the full appreciation of the different working parts of a mobile phone and how it relates to software to become a usable communication device.
“The last part of the training focused on business skills to expose participants to the business environment, business success factors and survival strategies. From the feedback received, the course participants thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the training. The women in the group in particular were every excited and surprised that they could cope with the technical aspects of the training often times regarded as an exclusive preserve of the men.
“The success story of the programme proves beyond reasonable doubt that there is ability in disability and we at SSDO are indeed very proud to identify with the collective and individual aspirations and achievement of these 50 enterprising Nigerians who, after three months, have completed the training on the repair of mobile phones and have also become computer literate.”
Mrs. Obiano, who was elated at the excitement of the beneficiaries, most of who sustained themselves through begging, said her office would collaborate with SSDO to train more people with disabilities in Anambra State, assuring that after the training, she would also provide the beneficiaries with the necessary equipment to enable them fend for themselves. .
The governor’s wife said: “I am happy to note that the decision of SSDO to train persons with physical disability is in line with the mission of my pet project, the Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFÉ). I sincerely thank the organization for its decision to bring the training to Anambra State. This is an encouragement to us for the little efforts we are making to make life more meaningful for the physically challenged.
“I also congratulate the graduates of this training programme and urge them to utilize the knowledge they have gained for their own economic emancipation. It is my hope that they will transfer same to others and when called upon, will help us in training others to become self reliant.
“My pet project, CAFÉ, will also continue to partner with the Anambra State government to ensure that we put smiles on the faces of the physically challenged. CAFÉ has already provided assistance, like wheel chairs and walking aids to some physically challenged in the state. We have also provided prosthetic legs and arms to hundreds of physically challenged in the state. Our hope is that we will continue until we have touched as many physically challenged persons as God’s providence will allow us to touch.” (Vanguard)
