Tamale based local non-governmental organization called Gub-Katimali has doled out GHC5, 000.00 donor support to 30 stabilized mental ill people and their caretakers in the Sagnarigu District of the Northern Region.
Another NGO called Basic Needs sourced funding from the Department for International Development (UK) for onward disbursement to the beneficiaries which is non-refundable.
As a revolving fund, the beneficiaries drawn from the Sagnarigu Gnunpagi Osuhi self help association received between GHC100.00 to GHC 300.00.
Additionally, Gub-Katimali in collaboration with Basic Needs has procured sewing machines for distribution to some members of the group upon their request.
The stimulus packages are meant to empower the beneficiaries’ manpower skills and entrepreneurship.
Executive Director of Gub-Katimali, Sheikh Yakubu Abdul Karim condemned the practice of pushing stabilized mental ill children into begging for alms rather than sending them to school to become responsible citizens.
He said his organization earlier gave two goats each to about 30 members of the group to boost animal husbandry.
He said plans were afoot to replicate the project in the entire 26 districts of the Northern Region.
According to him, the project which started about 13 years ago gained some successes.
He thereby tasked the beneficiaries to stop lavish spending and save profits gained from their businesses for future use.
He also encouraged them especially the caretakers to wisely invest the funds and use the profit to improve their sick children’s wellbeing.
He emphasized the need to place premium on the children’s education, health and nutrition needs.
Sheikh Yakubu Abdul Karim commended Basic Needs, the DFID and other donor agencies for their unflinching support towards improving the livelihood of the destitute.
Basic Needs project Officer, Dasa Kayeli Timothy on behalf of the organization’s Executive Director emphasized the need for the beneficiaries to invest the monies into profitable ventures.
He reiterated the organization’s commitment to support Gub-Katimali to implement more pro-poor projects which will inure to the benefit of stabilized mental ill people and their caretakers across the Northern Region.
“This support is coming from DFID Ghana and we are trying to support the self help groups through this kind of livelihood support so that they are able to engage in small micro enterprises where they are able to make something to support their families in terms of getting medication, getting them quality food to eat and if possible paying school fees.”
He implored the beneficiaries to cement their self help bond as means of attracting other donor agencies to release enough funds to champion their sources of livelihood.
“The purpose of such groups is that we want the groups to become self advocates for themselves so that they are able to tell and share their stories for people to understand issues of mental illness and epilepsy.”
He pleaded, “My plea to the group here today is that we want them to come together to be a stronger group, support each other and we should not see this support to be the one to divide us so that the group will disintegrate but we should rather see it as a kind of empowerment that will let us come together and fight for our collective course so that this group will become a model group that we can invite other people to come and see.”
“Our monitoring has also indicated that such a support has a become a worrying factor because people run away because they collect the support and because they are not able to pay that becomes the end of them coming back to join the groups,” he bemoaned.
Dasa Kayeli Timothy disclosed that some self help groups of mental ill people in Walewale, district capital of the West Mamprusi District were engaged in dry season gardening.
He pledged Basic Needs fortitude to intensify their monitoring and supervision of the projects executed so far.
“Somewhere in 2014 we had gone round to assess the skills of stabilized mental ill people to support them in the area of soap making, sewing and others who want to do phone and bicycle repairing, we have done that skills assessment and very soon we will be rolling out that programme and so they should take their meetings very serious.”
The group’s leader, Rashida Issah commended Gub-Katimali and its development partners for the continuous support.
She said the Gnunpagi Osuhi group started with three members and could now boast of a multitude courtesy the Gub-Katimali’s support.
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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana