Blind persons urged to participate in social activities

Blind persons have been urged to be vociferous and actively participate in all social activities in order to remove the stigma attached to them. Mr Thomas Malm, Volta Regional Chairman of Ghana Association of the Blind (GAB), who made the call, said "chain of stigmatization and labelling" was frustrating initiatives of blind people, denying them the opportunity to contribute to nation building. He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Third Biennial Regional Convention of the Association on the theme: "Challenges Militating Against the Total Inclusion of the Blind and the Partially Sighted Persons into Mainstream Ghanaian society - The Way forward", at Ho on Thursday. Mr Malm urged government to involve people with disabilities in local government activities to enable them to be part of decision making. Mr Peter Obeng Asamoah, GAB National Director, urged members of the group to avoid reducing themselves to second class citizens, overcome challenges and work hard to win the respect of society. Mr Wilson Anku, Volta Regional Coordinator of GAB, said people with disabilities if given they chance could become teachers, lawyers, journalists and bankers and integrated into the society. He commended Parliament for enacting the Disability Law but expressed worry about the way it was being implemented.