Life lessons from MTN Heroes of Change
By Doris Yaa Dartey. The WatchWoman Column
I have had the privilege of serving as a juror of MTN Heroes of Change for all the five seasons; and as the only female juror. From its inception in 2014, we set out into the raw wildness of Ghana, not having a clue on what we would find or learn about the extent of philanthropy in this country. Fortunately, during the course of the five seasons, I have had the chance to peep into the awesome heart of Ghana. I have witnessed kindness in the most unlikely people and places. The desire, eagerness and determination displayed by ordinary persons to reach out and help others is remarkable.
Often, the content of the daily news grind at the national level, which is characterized by much drama of wastefulness and corruption, is disappointing and depressing. But viewed against the kindness and impressive work being done by ordinary well-meaning people in various parts of Ghana lightens up one’s mood and gives hope for the future.
Altruistic reasons appear to underlie the motivations of the nominees unearthed through Heroes of Change. In the just-ended fifth season, I observed some commonalities in the stories and projects of the winners. They all started small. Their projects were extensions of their lived experiences, which were scaled up to make impressive impacts on people. This week, I will share the stories of three of the winners. Next week, I will bring you the stories of the other four winners.
LOUISA ENYONAM ANSAH
Louisa Ansah was the toast of the award event. She danced and danced and danced! She successfully changed the mood of what is usually a sombre event. Typically, over the past four seasons, the Heroes of Change award event was just a typical award event. But thanks to Madam Enyonam, the season five event was a super-fun evening.
Born 56 years ago without arms, Louisa’s life has been marked by people staring at her—because she has no arms! I recall that her childhood made the national news as people did not know what to make of a person without arms. The extent to which she literally set the tone for the award event gave a clear message: Ghana must accept people who have various forms of disabilities! The disabled have the same rights as all other Ghanaians. It was very touching to see her in defiance of public stares and boldly moving on with her life. For how long can anyone stare at a person who is steeled against stares? Her posture is that of a winner!
Enyonam Ansah won the education award. Yes, despite her visible physical disability, she uses her life to empower and make an impact on others who have similar disabilities.
Without a doubt, she has personally experienced the very difficult, cruel and often crude quality of life people living with disabilities in Ghana experience. You think life is tough? Try becoming disabled! The uniqueness of Enyonam’s story is that she has truly defied all the odds. She does not withdraw into herself. Rather, she has opened both her heart and home to physically challenged children. For several years, she has lived with some of the children and continues to provide them with both formal education and life training.
She recognizes the challenges physically disabled persons face in our regular schools. For that reason, she had acquired land to construct a disability-friendly school as a way of providing a safe space to educate physically disabled children who may otherwise not get a formal education in our mostly disability-unfriendly schools.
Enyonam had extended herself even further. She knows from experience the challenges the parents of the disabled go through. After all, when she was born, and her biological father set eyes on her, his response was to flee. The cowardly run-away father never returned to take responsibility for the child who had been born to him. Enyonam therefore grew up without a father.
So as part of her role in educating children with physical disabilities, she reaches out to parents in her community (and beyond) who have children with disabilities. She counsels and provides them with emotional support to save them from living with depression. Through her interventions, she eases the societal stress on parents and helps to cure the stigma they face. She even finds money to help some struggling mothers of disabled children.
As if all that were not enough, she took notice of the deplorable condition of water sources in the Otoase and neighbouring communities. She intervened by widening and extending the wells in the area.
Having known of her early years at the Orthopaedic Training Centre in Nsawam/Adoagyiri, I consider it amazing to find out all that Enyonam has done with her life. Without a doubt, Enyonam will never be silent and go into hiding. For a long time to come, she will be a force to reckon with among disabled persons in Ghana. She is very bold and will speak her mind to anyone, to push for the issues of the disabled. With such a powerful voice, she is a true heroin!
AFIA POKUA
Afia Pokua (popularly known as Vim Lady), won the special award for media. Afia is a well-known radio personality who used the platform graced to her to do good deeds. Using her media influence, she rallies around young volunteers, and raises money to fund the construction of decent structures and libraries for rural schools. Through her leadership, a full classroom block was constructed for the use of school pupils of Amenam in the Birim District of the Eastern Region. The pupils had hitherto sat on the bare floor to write on concrete blocks. She is undertaking similar projects in other villages—and none of these villages is her hometown!
She mentors young people, mostly in rural and deprived areas through forming reading clubs and giving talks to motivate them. Her potential to impact other lives is vast. She is a down-to-earth person who publicly discloses her lowly origins, and uses her privileged position to motivate herself to touch other people’s lives. More “vim” to Afia!
DERICK OMARI
Derick Omari won the special youth award. He has set himself apart as an outstanding young social entrepreneur, who is an excellent role model for other young people. He led a team of university students to impact the lives of over 800 persons living with disabilities across the country to enable them have access to quality and inclusive education as a way of increasing their chances of acquiring gainful employment.
He accomplished these impressive feats through the use of technology to build the capacity of the youth to mobilize and train visually impaired persons at different educational levels to use laptops and smartphones to learn. Specifically, his team works with children with autism and cerebral palsy. The team organizes skill development programs that trains the disabled in robotics, 3D modeling, IT and programming. They also organize academic assistance programs. What a fine young man!
Even without arms, Louisa Enyonam Ansah has accomplished a lot
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