A Cry for Help!

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), defines disability as an umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions. Disability is the interaction between individuals with a health condition (for example, cerebral palsy, down syndrome and depression) and personal and environmental factors such as negative attitudes, inaccessible transportation and public buildings and social supports.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that there are over one billion disabled people in the world. This corresponds to about 15 percent of the world’s population, which is estimated to number 7.132 billion by the United States Census Bureau (USCB). With a population of over 24 million, Ghana has a disability population of about 15-20 percent. The common disabilities are physical, visual, sensory and mental.

My quest to review the struggles average Ghanaians face in making a living in Accra reached the turn of Isaac Asante. He is disabled. According to him, he was not born disabled until age five, when he became crippled. He narrated that the cause of his disability is still unknown.

Isaac is 29 years old and comes from Akuapim Adukrom in the eastern region of Ghana. He has lived in Accra for nine years. According to him, he had been begging for alms for six years of which he saved money to start his business. He is a traffic hawker and has been selling for three years. He sells air fresher, hair and shoe brushes, and shaving sticks among others. All other things being equal, he makes sales between 20 and 30 cedis a day.

Isaac sleeps in front of a store at Makola, a commercial hub of Accra in the night. He told me that he pays 90 pesewas before he uses the lavatory. According to him, he came to Accra to make a living because poverty has engulfed his family. He is the fourth son of his parents’ 12 children.

He appealed that he would be very thankful if he is provided with accommodation and store, where he can sell his items. Isaac also confided in me that he would like to get married when his dream of getting house and store comes to reality. He is therefore calling on government, charitable organisations and philanthropists to come to his aid.