Dawood

 

I love Hope for Life. I have loved it since I was first a part of it for almost 3 years, from 1996 to 1998. The SMA father who founded the organization with a handful of people with disabilities needed to return to France in 1995. He asked the US SMA lay program if there were any lay people who could take over from him. My time in Cote d’Ivoire was finishing – so I was available and it fell right in line with what I was already interested in doing. But in 1998 I left to go back to school for occupational therapy, with hopes to return and do more in the future. When I completed my studies, I came back to SMA and was assigned elsewhere (the refugee camp), as there were others at HFL at the time. Some years later, I was asked to return to HFL and happily spent 2 more years, 2009 to 2011. Last year, I was once again asked to return and have been back since October 2023. As I said, I love Hope for Life, its goals, values, principles and the people who are a part of it.

The best part is all about getting to know the members individually through visits to their homes and workplaces and by attending their group meetings. In the past (and hopefully the future), this also took place with a wonderful part of the project called Bethany House, the home where I live. HFL members came by, some for part of a day, some for a couple of weeks. We ate together, laughed, talked, argued and sometimes cried (basically, we solved all the world’s problems). It’s all about getting to know each other so we can know how best to support one another and to move forward.

I wrote about Genvieve in my last update, just to share her story because I think she is a beautiful person. Some people asked how they could help, and we were able to work out a donation being sent through Western Union. We took time to further discuss with Genvieve how she would do her business, if she had carefully thought it through, if kerosene would really sell in her area, etc. etc. We finally gave her the needed boost last week. I’m excited because she is a long-time HFL member who has done a lot for the members of the HFL branch in her area, and now she has received something for herself. We also worked out an arrangement – she will repay a bit every month. We told her it was so the donation could be used to help again…but didn’t tell her that it would be going to help her again, basically a savings account. We want her to feel she’s earned it and that, in a year or so, she has earned it again through the repayments.

Dawood is another long-time HFL member. He had polio as a child and, as a result, ended up crawling on the ground. One night he had a dream that he could cross his legs and walk on his hands, staying clean and out of the dust….and that’s how he has moved ever since. His level of mobility and upper body strength has always been impressive – walking from his tricycle (like Genvieve’s) to wherever he needs to go that his tricycle can’t take him, putting a hand on a chair to effortlessly (at least that’s how he makes it look) lift himself up, walking up and down stairs, etc. Mostly, it’s his confidence that makes an impression. At first you can’t help but notice how he moves. But then that’s all forgotten as he talks directly, openly, wisely and confidently about his thoughts and ideas. He was never educated in a school, but communicates well in English, even having taught himself how to read and write. 

 

Dawood with his 4-wheeler

When I arrived in 1996, he had a tricycle like the one Genvieve uses (currently he has the 4-wheeler shown in the picture). He was “polishing up” the tailoring training he had just completed at the Cripples’ Home (the name has now been changed to the Ghana Society for the Socially Disadvantaged).

 

Joyce, the beading instructor at Cripple's Home

Agbe, the sewing instructor at Cripple's Home

 

Mutala, the leather working/shoemaking instructor

HFL had contributed towards Dawood then becoming an apprentice to a master tailor so he could hone his skills. He then went on to open his own tailoring shop, and his designs appeared in several fashion shows that took place here in Accra over the years. He’s always been creative, and has always made a stand-out impression on people.

Today, he is the human resources manager for a local business, and is working on improving his knowledge of computer programs so he can better handle the payroll. At the same time, he is building up a foundation called Help My Cause. He has seen that no matter how skilled some people with disabilities might be, there are still societal and physical obstacles that limit success, and these often lead to the failure of businesses run by people with disabilities. For example, a tailor who needs to go to central Accra to purchase thread, zippers, buttons, lining, “stiff”, etc., but who gets around in a wheelchair or slowly and carefully with crutches can find this an impossible task to accomplish. Also, people like Dawood, who are low to the ground when not on a tricycle or 4-wheeler, can find it impossible to do their banking as they cannot be seen over a countertop, and the bank workers probably won’t come out from behind the counter. Not to mention that most people with disabilities here are initially perceived as beggars and may not even be allowed into the bank or the shop from where they need to purchase their supplies. Dawood’s vision is for Help My Cause to be a structure that will make it possible for people with disabilities to have the necessary support to overcome some of these obstacles and to have a better chance of making their businesses a success (there are more layers to Help My Cause, but that’s a rough overview).

 

Central Accra

People are surprised and impressed when they first see Dawood walking up to them or climbing stairs to wherever the person he is meeting is located. There is always a smile on his face, a positive attitude and a ready laugh. And when he starts speaking confidently of his vision for options for people with disabilities, or about the job he is doing, their surprise at what they are seeing changes to being surprised and impressed by the words they are hearing. And people listen. And, with his confidence and ideas, he often convinces them that they want to be a part of the solution.

 

Dawood with Enoch, a tailor, and one of the original HFL members

Dawood and Fusseini, who repairs motorbikes

Dawood and his smile