Vodafone Ghana Foundation has organised sporting activities to entertain Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and to commemorate PWD day. The activities included table tennis, Para boxing, deaf bowling, and egg and spoon competition.
The event formed part of the Foundation’s monthly ‘Birthday Stars’ project which seeks to execute monthly projects tied to employee’s birthday celebrants to mark selected international days, in line with the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals within the month. This month’s event focused on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to leave no one behind.
Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Patricia Obo-Nai, who graced the occasion as a December birthday celebrant said she was delighted the foundation selected a disability-inclusive project.
“We all have disabilities. Some demonstrate them while others do not. And this is why we must work together to complement our weaknesses. I am elated to be part of today’s event. I am amazed at how they have mastered these challenging games. I encourage all of us to desist excluding people with disabilities in our society”.
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Also commenting on the event, the Lead of Vodafone Ghana Foundation, Mr. Amaris Nana Perbi, said PWDs were sometimes forgotten, hence the decision to organise the event.
“Whenever there are fun having activities like sports, we sometimes forget persons with disabilities. Meanwhile, they are not to be excluded from activities such as these. We, therefore, deemed it important to prioritise all positive steps to spend time with them and have fun with them through these sports activities. We are happy to have engaged them”.
On his part, the Secretary General of the Association of the Sports for the Disabled (ASFOD), Mr. Patrick Johnson, thanked Vodafone Ghana for the initiative and the donation of 5,000 Ghana cedis to support the PWD farm project.
“On behalf of the association, I thank Vodafone Ghana and Vodafone Foundation for this kind gesture. This event has given us the opportunity to showcase our talents and has given us a sense of belonging in the society. I entreat them to organise such programmes periodically to help PWDs both nationally and internationally”. The ‘Birthday Stars’ initiative which commenced in September 2020, has provided an opportunity for staff volunteers of Vodafone Ghana to commence projects like the presentation of hampers to fresh mothers at hospitals, organise health screening exercise for orphanage homes, and support PWD among others.