The year 2018 was a learning curve for the Special Mothers
Project, this learning curve has given birth to a vivid definition to what the
Special Mothers Project stands for.
Our Definition as Special Mothers Project also guides our
way forward as a project.
In 2019, The Special Mothers Project operated with the
theme: “Changing the Narrative” the Project broadened its scope from talking
about families raising children with cerebral palsy and advocating for
efficient policies for them to include all children with Special Needs.
We got mothers of children with Down syndrome, Osteogenesis
Imperfecta and Autism join our online whatsapp platform and participate
effectively in our activities, sharing insights about their peculiarities to
enrich our advocacy messages.
Parents and families raising children with Special Needs
across the country (Ghana) continue to reach out to the Special Mothers Project
for support.
The Special Mothers Project gives support to these families
by highlighting their situation in the media, providing professional
counselling and psychosocial support to these families and pointing them to the
limited but available support services
The Special Mothers Project developed a referral system for families
that called for support to enable them
know who, where and what to do and where to seek help while providing them with
information on available government policies as well as suggesting to
government policies that we think might enhance the lives of families raising
children with Special Needs
We maintain an active blog and active social media platforms
where information is readily available for families needing help.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The Special Mothers Project has established an online
community of parents of children with Special Needs where rich experiences are
shared and peer counselling takes place
The Special Mothers Inclusive Centre serves as a stop gap
facility for families needing urgent help and prioritizes the counselling of
families raising children with Special Needs but is more active during
vacations where children enrolled are cared for and engages in play and
recreational therapy.
Mrs Hannah Awadzi, Founder and Executive Director of the
Special Mothers Project has been inducted into the Ghana Psychological Council
as a Psychologist Assistant. Mrs Awadzi is focusing on providing psychosocial
support to families raising children with Special Needs
The Special Mothers Project had a vibrant year with regards
to mainstream media publicity, we are given opportunity to speak on major media
networks and channels to share information on cerebral palsy and children with
Special Needs in general
The Special Mothers Project was appointed to join a National
Technical Committee reviewing Ghana’s Disability Law. Mrs Awadzi said: “Being
on the Committee is an opportunity to serve my country while I learn as much as
possible but most importantly I go to the table with the concerns of parents
and families raising children with Special Needs.”
WAY FORWARD
The Focus of the Special Mothers Project is going to be
mainly media advocacy and suggesting policies that enhances the lives of
families raising children with Special Needs
The Project will engage in the media campaign that
emphasizes on the need to implement the already existing laws.
The Special Mothers Project will raise awareness throughout
society, including at the Family Level regarding children with Special Needs to
foster respect and dignity for families raising children with Special Needs
using the media platforms
The Project will also focus on encouraging all organs of the
media to portray children with Special Needs in a manner that maintains respect
and dignity for families nurturing children with special needs
The Special Mothers Project will promote awareness training
programmes regarding children with Special Needs and Families raising children
with Special Needs.
The Project will also embark on research and knowledge
sharing activities. In the year 2020, The Special Mothers Project will publish the revised edition of the all time Inspirational book "The Unexpected" that chronicles Hannah Awadzi's journey with her daughter who has cerebral palsy.
The revised edition of the book will share some insights learned since starting the project, some shared experiences with the Project and make proposals for effective implementation of Ghana's disability laws and policies
CHALLENGES
Running an advocacy campaign without any formal financial
support is daunting and we have done this from 2015 to 2019, hence there will
be no physical meeting for the online community unless requested by an
organization or on demand.
Having a physical meeting requires a lot of finances, hiring
of venue, renting of canopies and chairs and serving refreshment as well as
providing TNT where necessary.
We continue to operate with a financial deficit, since we do
not get any income but rather pay for the use of internet services, fuel,
refreshments, renting of venues for our programmes and providing TNT for some
of the volunteers, the cost of operation keeps rising.
GRATITUDE
The media in Ghana has been of tremendous support to
publicising the activities and programmes of the Special Mothers Project for
free most of the time. I cannot mention all the media outlets here for lack of
space but may I single out Mr Elvis Darko, Editor of the Finder Newspaper, I do
not know how to thank him effectively but to pray for God’s blessing on his
life.
To all those who continued to support us with their widows
mite this year, The (De) Blend Group Acacia Shade, Van Moorhouse Foundation
(VMF) God Bless you richly. Special Mention to the Supporting Tools Enabling
Parents (STEP) project for taking time to train our members and partner
organization when they were in Ghana in May 2019
Some members of the group offered great support, and I
cannot mention you all, God Bless you all abundantly.
Please our financial report for the year 2019 will be up on
our website www.specialmothers.org
by March of 2020. Meanwhile the Financial Report for year 2018 is uploaded for
your information.
