Hawa Issifu, aged 37 lives in Karateshie community in the Tempane District of Northern Ghana. She was born without any impairment but later in life had her spinal cord damaged through a disease. All efforts to treat her condition medically proofed futile. Hawa’s husband, a peasant farmer exhausted all his resources in search of a solution which never succeeded. In view of this, Hawa was always indoors, helpless and dejected. He family and community apparently treated her with contempt due to the negative perceptions that they held about people with disability. She was viewed as burden since she was not productive but had to depend on the family to survive.

Hawa was identified during a community survey conducted by CBR field staff. She was immediately registered for intervention. She was referred to an orthopaedic specialist in Bawku Presbyterian Hospital and it was confirmed that her condition was chronic and could not be treated. The CBR programme under the auspices of PWS&D, Canada supported Hawa with a tricycle and a wheelchair and trained her to enhance mobility. She picked up and now able to move independently. Her family and community members also received sensitization on disability rights and the need to desist from negative attitudes towards people with disabilities. Hawa was further trained in business skills and supported with a start-up capital, an amount of GHS1, 500 to start petty trade. Her business gradually picked up well and she depended on it for survival.

The use of the tricycle and wheelchair made it possible for Hawa to change from being indoors to being able to move independently in her community. She also became more accepted and well integrated in the family and community following the sensitization that was delivered to the family and community by PCBR-Garu field staff. She could generate enough money from her petty trading business to meet her livelihoods. Hawa had this to say when she was visited by the project team during monitoring:  “My life has changed. I am no longer indoors; with the tricycle, I am able to visit the nearest borehole in the community to carry potable water home. I am able to visit church to worship God. My business is generating profit for my upkeep. What a relief! I am so grateful to the CBR programme and all her partners especially PWS&D, Canada for bringing this great change into my life. Thank you for your services and may God reward abundantly in heaven”.

Unfortunately, the outbreak of Covid-19 adversely impacted the business of Hawa. The fear and panic that came with the pandemic made it difficult for her to continue with her business like many of her colleagues. Her business got stalled and she could no longer generate income to meet her needs. Fortunately, the Psychosocial Relisience Grants Project under the auspices of Ghana Somubi Dwumadie came timely and provided a ray of hope to Hawa and her colleagues who suffered losses through the pandemic. Hawa alongside her colleagues received training on Covid-19 safety protocols and enterprise management skills. This helped her to develop resilience to continue with her business whilst being Covid-19 compliant.  She had this to say to the project team during monitoring visit: “I don’t know what to use to thank you and your partners. The training you gave us was very helpful and my business as you can see has bounced back. Before the training I was so afraid to deal with customers as I did not know what to do to minimize the risk of getting infected with the virus. Through the training, I am back working whilst observing the precautionary measures to reduce the risk of getting infected with the deadly virus. Thanks for making my life meaningful again”