Freetown — The Leonard Cheshire Disability (LCD), a leading institution that caters for the welfare of disabled and physically challenged children in the country has in collaboration with other stakeholders granted micro-credit loan to parents and guardians or representatives of 10 disabled persons in their care.

Addressing representatives of the parents of the 10 recipients at the LCD head-office, Old Railway Line in Freetown last Thursday, the Communications, Campaign and Fund Raising Manager, Teddy Morlai underscored the need for honesty so that the loans will be repaid on time to enable another batch to access the funds.

According to Mr. Morlai, the criteria for selecting their children for the loan was their active participation in the "Young Voices Programme", adding that it was an indication that their children have learnt something during their stay at the LCD which differentiates them from other disabled children in the country that roam about the streets as beggars.

The LCD Fund Raising manager outlined the objectives of the LCD which include catering for the training of their children in various skills so that they become happy and respectable members living normal life in the society. Morlai maintained that the LCD is also engaged in sensitizing people and communities to change their negative perceptions about disabled persons, as they too are able to live normal life in society.

He added that over the years the LCD has been making some strides such as opening branch offices in Bo, Kabala and Koidu in the Kono district to cater for the welfare of the disabled in those areas. "Our role is to provide the enabling environment so that even though a person is disabled on crutches or in the wheel-chair he can be able to learn skills such as typing, gara tie-dying, mending shoes, tailoring etc, a vision that had motivated parents and guardians to send their children to the LCD.

Morlai outlined some of the achievements of the disabled and physically challenged in the country which include the advocacy that has led to the drafting of a disabled rights bill that is presently before Parliament for promulgation into law, a move that will facilitate the integration of the disabled in society, a recognition of their rights and their inclusion in development policies.

He noted: "Right now we are about to grant micro-credit loans to 10 of their parents in Freetown, 10 in Bo while 15 parents will benefit from the other branch offices in Kabala and Koidu in the Kono district. We have succeeded in getting them speak on radio and TV and every year we have designed a plan whereby one of them will go on a short trip abroad for interaction with people.

"One of them is about to go for a United Nations conference. This loan is to help parents do business to support their disabled LCD children; this is one of our achievements," Morlai indicated.

Speaking at the 1 day micro-credit loan management workshop, the president of the Sierra Leone Union for Disability Issues (SLUDI), Franklin Kabba - himself a physically challenged - thanked the LCD, the European Union Campaign Project for Micro-Enterprise Development and Management and other stakeholders for bringing to fruition the granting of the loan.

The SLUDI president said he was expressing appreciation because many times people have been asking their union about what they are doing for the disabled in the country, adding that the SLUDI is actively engaged in advocating and lobbying for the rights of the disabled in the country.

He mentioned as an example efforts that led to the drafting of the disabled rights bill while expressing thanks to President Ernest Bai Koroma for responding to their request in making the presence of the a disabled in Parliament a reality in the person of Hon. Julius Kofi, and another landmark achievement is the inclusion of one disabled as Board member of the proposed National Youth Commission (NYC).

The SLUDI president used the occasion to appeal to government to provide the enabling environment for disabled persons to be integrated in the mainstream of the development of the country such as access to job facilities to enable them live decent lives. He mentioned the American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a disabled whose handling of America's economic policies were so impressive that he was made to rule for 3 terms, noting that this was why SLUDI is advocating for pro-disabled development policies in national development.

In a statement, Momodu Conteh who represented Hope Micro-Credit, sensitized the audience on the objectives of the training workshop. He advised recipients that before taking the loan they should first of all be engaged in business, such as selling fish, cooked rice etc and that they must be honest and work with seriousness to ensure repayment which qualifies them for another loan.

Conteh warned them to avoid over-spending, to minimize costs.

For his part, the General Manager of LAPO micro-credit loan which only caters for granting loan to women, Aighobahi D. Ferguson who served as chief launcher of the loan scheme cautioned the parents not to deprive their disabled children of education and access to avenues to improve themselves and become productive in society.

Ferguson told them that if they are honest and serious what they are receiving is just the beginning as even Handicap International plans to assist the.

Earlier the chairman of the occasion, Yankuba Forbie who gave the welcome address noted that the loans will be repaid with small interest and that their role is to provide the enabling environment to make disabled persons happy by providing them training opportunities to gain skills that will help them cope with normal life.