Obuasi-based NGO, La Vie Foundation has organised a party for persons with disability, orphans, widows, and residents of some deprived communities in Obuasi as a way of showing them affection during this festive season.
La Vie Foundation is a non-profit organisation that focuses on empowering the needy, vulnerable, and less privileged groups in society and also restoring hope to the hopeless.
Yvonne Adomako Asabre, the Executive Director of La vie foundation in an interview on the sidelines of the social gathering said the NGO has since 2013 been organising such events through its “Hope Festival’ program to show love and care to vulnerable groups in Obuasi and beyond.
She said the NGO since its formation has reached out to deprived communities like Komfokrom in the Obuasi Municipality, where it supported school children to develop an interest in school. It also collaborated with the Columbian Embassy and AGA to do a special lighting project through battery to illuminate the area.
“Ten years ago, we decided to pick out a deprived community like Komfokrom where we encouraged the school children to develop an interest in going to school, and through that, we have had some children from the community who have completed Senior high school. This is the sort of impact we have made over the years”
The NGO also presented bags of rice, tinned tomatoes, biscuits, clothes, and some toys to the various groups present at the event.
The NGO also called for the abolishment of some negative widowhood rites.
Culture, it is said, is a vehicle for national development. In this sense, it becomes a panacea and tool that could be exploited for any country’s development.
But there are certain negative cultural practices that are considered to be inimical, and dehumanizing and infringe on the fundamental human rights of people who become victims of such cultural practices.
The Executive Director of La vie Foundation, Yvonne Adomako Asabre believes that such obnoxious cultural practices where people are forced to strip naked, forced into confinement, disallowed from eating some particular types of food, and forced to select a husband from the deceased husband’s family for remarriage, should be completely abolished.
“Women, during this period only need to be showed love and care and not to be subjected to such inhumane practices which further disintegrates the family”.
Rose Abdullah, a widow also shared her frustrations about how some widows are treated. She said such practices further deepen the ordeals the widows go through after losing their husbands.
“I also experienced this when my husband died. At a point, you will be told to sleep with the brother of your late husband. Failure to do it, the family will ignore you and your children totally. This is very inhumane and should be abolished,” she added.
Obeng Dompreh, a physically challenged man lauded La Vie Foundation for the party. He said such events only bring hope and confidence back to persons with disability who mostly feel marginalised.
He appealed to the local authorities, as part of the disbursement of disability funds, to allocate portions for organising get-togethers for the PWDs during festive seasons.
