Faculty Member Spotlight: Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame
Many wise people have said, it is how you treat those who are vulnerable in your community in times of crisis that defines the character of a society. During Covid-19, Ghana’s character has been tested and tried, yet we are weathering these challenges as a collective society, where extended family and community are more important than the individual. We take pride in helping each other, and feel an obligation to each other, especially during a crisis.
I speak as a person who is living through the hardships of the Covid-19 pandemic, through a different lens. While my identity is not solely defined by my blindness, I have limitations, and the pandemic has been a time of worry, fear and confusion. As a visually impaired person, I count myself fortunate to have a caring, stable, extended family that is willing and able to assist me and other people in their family if needed. Nevertheless, Covid-19 has changed my life dramatically. For example, as someone who travels a lot to fulfill my obligations as Africa’s representative for peoples with disabilities at the United Nations, and a global advocacy advisor at Sightsavers, an international NGO, I was at first thrown into confusion and uncertainty when Ghana went into its first lock-down because I was no longer able to leave the country to do part of my work. As this pandemic has spread and sown loss and interrupted life, I have watched our economy and culture norms suffer. Market women could not go out and sell. Vehicles did not move from one place to the other. Churches and mosques closed and big gatherings are discouraged. For a collectivist society like Ghana where daily life revolves around gathering and personal exchanges, these new measures feel restrictive and unnatural and leave people with disabilities with new challenges. New restrictions due to the pandemic, for example, mean that people with disabilities who depend on others to take them to hospitals were further endangered by the potential of being infected by a well-intentioned person. A life-protecting measure like wearing masks, may present challenges for some people with disabilities. For example, the hearing impaired and others who may depend on sign language, facial expressions and mouth movements to communicate have to adapt quickly.
There’s a Ghanian proverb which I love and apply to the pandemic. It is roughly translated, “What comes from beyond the seas is what we fear, not what is in front of us.” While I have limitations, I cannot live my life in fear. My identities intersect with each other in many complex ways, and I can be at my best because I am a woman, educated, a mother, and a professional. But what I am not, will challenge me. I have therefore worked hard to learn about this pandemic, and ways to stay safe given my physical challenges. To try and live a less stressful life as a blind person, I am humble enough to ask for help when necessary. This is not a time to be proud or reserved. Many people are willing and happy to assist if you seek their help. Get in touch with organizations that can help answer questions or alleviate your fears. For example, the good work of organizations like Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations, Sightsavers, the Ghana government and other community and religious organizations are working hard to make education accessible to children and adults with disabilities. These organizations have also demanded that the Ghanaian government pay attention to equitable distribution of aid, assistance and recovery interventions for people with disabilities. In times of hardships, sometimes other doors open, and progress is made.
This global pandemic is to be respected, to be feared, but we need not live in fear. We need to pay attention, stay determined and keep moving forward with hope.
Getrude Fefoame is a member /presenter of the WTIG team in Ghana. She is also an advocate for people with disabilities, and is a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ms. Fefoame serves as a Global Advocacy Advisor (Social Inclusion) for Sightsavers, an international organization that promotes equal opportunities for people with disabilities in Ghana. For more information about Sighsavers visit: https://www.sightsavers.org/about-us/