Special needs dad calls for help

 

A special needs father, Mr Martin Edem Segbedzi, father of a four year old boy with cerebral palsy has called on government to put support systems in place to support persons like him

 He told the Special Mothers Project that he is unable to get a job in the formal setting because there will be no one to leave the boy with.

He said he applied for the District Assembly Common Funds for Persons with Disability in the March 2021 in the Central Tongu District, to enable him start something which will allow him to do caregiving whiles working at home but till date he has not been called for the funds.

“Aside that, stigmatization in my area, Adidome, is very high, people say all kinds of things about me, a certain woman has made it her business to be telling people not to get close to me because I have gone to do some rituals with my son,” Mr Segbedzi said

He said there are no educational facilities in his area ready to accept his son and there are no rehabilitation centres, “I am always in the room with my son, whether I am sick or well, I am the one to do the caregiving, there is no support.”

Mr Segbedzi is a graduate with a bachelor degree in Basic education, he has a certificate in IT secretarial-ship and is  able to do type setting and other secretarial duties, aside that he is also able to paint.

He said when he is able to raise some money he will like to buy a printer and other equipment to start some secretarial business while he takes care of his son.

Mr Segbedzi called on the government to prioritise the setting up of support systems to enhance the lives of parents’ especially single parents of children with disabilities.

Kindly Contact Mr Segbedzi on +233 20 697 0035 if you are touched to support him

The Special Mothers Project is an advocacy platform on issues affecting children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities and their families.

Convulsions cannot be detected with a lab test – Dr Brew

 

Dr Yvonne Brew, a pediatrician at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, has said there is no specific laboratory test to determine whether a child is prone to convulsions or not.

She advised parents of children with neurodevelopmental conditions to be observant and report any unusual movements to doctors to enable them get the right medication for their children.

“Epilepsy is treatable, there are medications to help persons with epilepsy, once your child has epilepsy, and your child should be on medication” Dr Brew said.

Dr Brew who run the Neurodevelopmental clinic at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, was speaking at an information session on seizures organized by the Special Mothers Project, an advocacy organization.

She said doctors depend on the information given by parents to know the type of seizures that a child has and to know which specific medication to give.

There are a lot of good epilepsy medications on the National Health Insurance List, Dr Brew said, urging parents to take advantage of that and get the right medications for their children.

Dr Brew however admitted that there are limited number of trained medical doctors specialized in neurodevelopmental disabilities, hence some doctors may not know how to properly treat a child with the conditions in their clinics.

She also explained that once a child get a seizure more than once especially if the child has a neurodevelopmental condition, the child is epileptic and should be treated as such.

“Seizures are the same as convulsions,” Dr Brew added.

The Special Mothers Project’s informational session on seizures gave the parents an opportunity to interact with a medical doctor outside the hospital session which allowed a lot of parents to ask a lot of questions.

The occasion was also used to present some items and an unspecified amount of money to some parents who have recently lost their children due to seizures.

Mrs Salomey Okoh, a member of the Special Mothers Project donated assorted mobility equipment to some of the children who needed it.

Mrs Hannah Awadzi, Executive Director of the Special Mothers Project expressed gratitude to Dr Yvonne Brew for the education and thanked all those who donated monies to make the programme a success.

Jesus is trending: - Christianity is more than words

 

The letters JESUS is trending on social media, it’s either it is shared as a Whatsapp status or it is shared on someone’s wall on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other platforms.

When I first saw it, I asked myself, what is happening? Ghana has seen a lot of “Christian” movement, there was MOGPA, there is Alpha, and a lot more which seems to peak at a point.

Was this JESUS another movement peaking or it was something else, I found the explanation of social media. It was a thread started by Nathaniel Bassey, a Musician to make JESUS trend.

Wow! Was my first exclamation, it seems the JESUS trending fire has really caught on, it is like everybody is sharing it.

However, occasionally, I will see comments like, “even publicly known profane people are also sharing JESUS” and comments like that.

Jesus the Christ (The Anointed one) according to the Bible is the only begotten son of God who accepted to come down to earth to come and die for the sins of mankind.

The Bible says that because of that singular act of kindness shown by Jesus Christ, He is given a name above all name, that at the mention of the name Jesus Christ, every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord.

I am a Bible believeing Christian who believes that Jesus Christ is indeed the son of God, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ and I strive to live right as a Christian.

So I will not intentionally harm my fellow human being or even animals, yes, I am very kind to birds, dogs and cats. I love watching nature and I enjoy the handiwork of God (Nature)

I also strive to be kind, I try not to be judgmental of  people who are not like me or who I think are weird, I try to understand what informs people’s behavior and I try my best to love.

For God so love the world that He gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life, I believe this scripture is also true.

What I find out about the Jesus trending however that is it seems that a lot of people are sharing JESUS on their status for sharing sake and not really committed to back their trend with deeds.

I share two personal experience here, on some occasions, I have taken my daughter who lives with cerebral palsy to schools owned or headed by pastors. One of the pastors, after hearing that I wanted admission for my child who does not walk yet or speak, started praying and prophesying right in my presence, “O your daughter will be well, your daughter will walk,” but he wasn’t ready to accept my daughter into his school.

He recommended that I sent my daughter to a special school, I painstakingly explained why I wanted my daughter to be in a mainstream educational setting but no, he wasn’t ready. I thanked him and left.

The second was a Christian school, I had gone to see the Assistant head and explained everything to him that I wanted my daughter to be in the school, I was prepared to go the extra mile just to have my daughter in school, he seemed convinced and gave me a date to come and meet the headmistress who was a pastor.

This woman will not hear of admitting a child with special needs in her school, according to her, they once admitted a child with Autism who was violent and so they won’t even attempt.

I explained to them that children with special needs are unique, we cannot lump all children with special needs together, even two children with autism may not behave the same way, no this pastor headmistress will not even want to see my face, let alone to see the child.

I walked away from the school, so disappointed because it is a Church denomination I belonged to. I was disappointed beyond the word itself.

When I cast my mind back, the Jesus Christ who we follow showed kindness to all manner of people. I remember the story of the 10 lepers. They were lepers for Christ sake, according to church history, lepers were regarded as outcasts in the society but when they boldly approached Jesus the Christ, he welcomed them and healed them.

In the Bible we see Jesus heal the demon possessed, Jesus was accused of mingling with the known sinners like Zacchaeus, he did good and accepted all manner of persons.

Today, I dare say that many of the people who profess the name Jesus may not have the same intentions that Jesus had when he walked the surface of this earth.

We are confronted with blatant hypocrisy, jealousy, envyness, wishing others ill, among others. Sometimes some Christians only appreciate how blessed they are when they see others suffer.

Some people only see the goodness in their lives when they see what they think is another’s predicament.

Well… The Jesus Christ I know did not do that, and if we really want to make Jesus trend, let’s also make Jesus trend with our deeds.

Words are not enough, posting the inscription JESUS on your status is not enough, let JESUS trend  by your deeds.

After all the Bible says that by their fruits we shall know them.