Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Ebeye Yie (EYE) Foundation, Isaac Ofori, has disclosed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, his outfit drafted a proposal to the Ghana COVID-19 Trust Fund for a sum of Gh₵600,000 to sensitize persons with disabilities, especially the deaf.
“We approached the fund for support when COVID-19 hit and was accompanied by misconceptions. These misconceptions about both the virus and vaccines were so overwhelming that even the normal person believed them to an extent. So, if they did believe them then what about the deaf who can’t hear or even know about the vaccines and their misconceptions. With this in mind we deemed it best to clear the misconception for the deaf and persons with disabilities,” he disclosed.
Although the various ministries through the regular COVID-19 press conferences had a sign language interpreter educating the deaf on the virus, vaccine, and its misconceptions during these briefings, the EYE Foundation found this as inadequate and sought to approach the COVID-19 Trust Fund so they could engage their audience at the district level.
In an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, Mr. Ofori stated, “the World Health Organization (WHO) shared in a research that the deaf and vulnerable in society were going to suffer the effects of the pandemic the most and that’s why we decided to approach the COVID-19 Trust Fund to support our educational efforts for persons living with disabilities.”
According to him, the EYE Foundation drafted a proposal for Gh₵600,000 for the education and purchasing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for the disabled and delivered it at the doorsteps of the COVID-19 Trust Fund. The Fund gave EYE Foundation an amount they (EYE) refused to disclose. “We put the money we received to good use and did our work. We focused on persons living with disabilities and educated them on how to live safely with the pandemic.”
He disclosed the money was not just handed to them by the Fund as they had to go through rigorous screening. “It took about 6 months for us to even get the money. At a point, we even thought we were not going to get the money.”
Mr. Ofori stated that the Fund has a vibrant monitoring team that ensures monies disbursed are used for the intended purposes.
The EYE Foundation which is one of the many groups which received funding from the Fund to fight the pandemic was established around 2019 and has the mandate of ensuring the physical and mental wellbeing of the disabled, with priority to the deaf. They train nurses and other medical practitioners in sign language to equip them in caring for the deaf and also undertake training sessions to equip disabled persons with entrepreneurial skills.
