Ghanains with Disabilities

I've had limited, but informative opportunities to learn about the disability culture here. At one of the orphanages which we visited, the pastor who directs the facility said that they had very few orphans with disabilities and he proceeded to name one child who did not have a left hand and another child who was abandonned when his parents discovered that although he is a boy, he did not have any genitalia. I asked him about people with mental illness, and he said that they did have a couple of kids who had mental problems and many mothers with mental illness who abandonned their children to them. We talked a little about how difficult it can be for people with disabilities to find a job. In fact, on most occasions, I've seen that the people who are truly begging for money and not hawking souveniers or snacks to us have had disabilities. This includes a young man who kept tapping on our van window at the Elmina castle, making a sign that he wanted food. At first, we ignored him as he was lost among the boys who were trying to sell us shells with our names written on them. Thankfully, it appeared as though the other boys accepted him too.

I wonder if people here have problems assessing cognitive or developmental disabilities. A member of our group said that she spotted at least two children in an orphanage at a village to the north of us who may have had some mental retardation, one due to cerebral palsey. They weren't getting any treatment for it. I don't know if it's due to an inability to get treatment or if it's just accepted.

We were joined for two days by Wendy and her translator, Michelle. Wendy is a resident at the U's pediatrics program and John was her senior resident on a rotation. She and Michelle have been working with a group from Utah that has been teaching ASL and volunteering at Ghana's School for the Deaf. She told us how the Ghanains basically use ASL but with regional versions of signs. Many of the children are abandonned by their families there. In fact, school is supposed to end for the summer in a couple of weeks and it is anticipated that many families will not come to pick them up. This group that Wendy is working with has tried to develop little cards with basic ASL info. on them to give to parents as a means of encouraging them to communicate more with their children.

She also said that most of the students there were not born deaf, but may have become deaf when infected with meningitis at a young age. It doesn't sound like there's much of a Deaf culture here and hearing aids are widely accepted and sought. One group has managed to secure hearing aids on a sliding scale, as cheap as 65 dollars for the students at the school.

Perhaps most sad of all is that there is no help for these students for finding a job on graduation. In other words, they go through years of education and will ultimately end up as beggers on the street.

I guess I really can't think of a "best" category to follow up this entry. Sorry if this was depressing!