By Amara Konneh
MONROVIA, June 8 (LINA) – The head of a local disabled group is craving the indulgence of government and actors in the private sector to provide job opportunities for people living with disabilities in Liberia to compete with others for employment amidst the economic challenges existing in the country.
Siaka Kanneh, who leads the Liberia Mende Disabled Association (LIMA), also wants well-meaning Liberians, philanthropic organizations and private sector actors to support skilled Liberians who are disabled by capacitating them as they strive to contribute to the growth and development of Liberia.
LIMA is a local organization which was founded in October 2020 in Monrovia by a group of disabled people mainly from the Mandingo ethnic group. The group’ primary objective is to bring together people with disabilities, give them the inspiration of becoming a useful citizen so that they can contribute to community initiatives rather than becoming street beggars.
With more than 4.5 million people, the exact statistics about disability in Liberia is outdated, but records from a UNICEF study in 1997 as published by ‘The Borgen Project,’ show that 16 percent of Liberia’s population has a disability.
The 16 percent consists of an accumulated fraction of people struggling with mobility, visually-impaired, deaf as well as those struggling with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities.
It was estimated, however, in 2014 by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) that due to the devastation caused by the nation’s civil crisis that ended in 2003 and the Ebola outbreak of 2014, the number of people with disabilities is likely closer to 20 percent of the population.
Speaking in an interview with the Liberia News Agency (LINA), Kanneh said though the government is considered as the highest employer, there are, however, other entities within the private sector with huge potential for employment that can also create job opportunities for people with disabilities.
The LIMA head indicated that his institution has been involved with the creation of awareness for people who are physically challenged as part of efforts to enable them to realize their potentials and prepare for job opportunities that will make them live a better life rather than becoming beggars in their respective communities.
He told LINA that while the institution is working with other Community Based Organizations to help enlighten the minds of disabled people who see street begging as the only means of survival, the government and other philanthropists must ensure that more job opportunities are created for both abled and disabled people in order to compete in the job markets.
“We are kindly asking our brothers and sisters to help us seek the same opportunities, especially for people who have decided to acquire higher education, so as to contribute to nation building like others. We all can make a positive impact to our country through community initiatives,” said Kanneh.
“In the disabled communities, there are a lot of people who are computer literate but do not have the opportunity to expose their skills that will make positive impacts to the developmental agenda of Liberia,” the LIMA President said.
Kanneh added that while serving as founder and President of the institution, there are several challenges that the institution is faced with; key among them, he noted are: the lack of logistics while opportunities for jobs and mobility are the major factors that are undermining the activities of the institution.
At the same time the head of LIMA cautions people with disabilities to desist from street begging and focus their energy on useful endeavors.
He mentioned that though there are all kinds of characterization and rejection of people who are physically challenged, but they should not be deterred to pursue higher education and other vocational trainings that would make them useful in society.
« Let my story and the stories of others with disabilities serve as testimonies. Since I graduated I have been confronted with a lot of disadvantages all because of my condition. I managed to serve as ticket collector at a local cinema in my community but because of my condition, my employer terminated my contract,” Kanneh disclosed.
Having been attacked by criminals who robbed him of all the cash he had saved while working at the local cinema, Kanneh noted that this and many other unfortunate incidents motivated him to pursue a high school education which he believes will give him a better life.
He said education is the easiest opportunity to live a better life, especially when you are disabled, adding that physically challenged people must not use their condition to become a beggar but their minds and hands so that they can make an impact in society.
LINA AK/WSG/PTK
