Mampong School For The Deaf Cries For Help
The Headmistress of the Mampong Demonstration School for the Deaf (DEMODEAF), Madam Regina Danquah, has made a passionate appeal to organizations and philanthropists to come to the aid of the school to continue serving persons with hearing challenges.
Speaking during a special screening exercise organized by Starkey Hearing Foundation at the School at Mampong, Madam Danquah expressed unhappiness at the slow pace at which government funding gets to the school as well as the lack of facilities to give much better education and training to pupils of the school, stating that the situation affects their integration into mainstream society.
She said the school has no administration block to run its affairs, compelling the management to convert a classroom into an office. The school also lacks an ICT and Assessment hall and is using part of its dormitory as its library.
Madam Danquah identified funding and lack of training equipment and materials as their major needs, appealing to society to help give meaning to the lives of Persons With Disability (PWDs).
In all, staff of Starkey Hearing Foundation and Specialists of the Audiology Department of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, supported by staff of the School, screened 308 deaf pupils from the Primary, Junior High and Vocational Departments of the school. Twelve (12) of the pupils are both deaf and blind.
According to the Patient Care Coordinator of Starkey Hearing Foundation, Mr. Wilson Agbesi, the exercise formed part of the organization's programme to extend its hearing gift to the deaf.
He disclosed that, there would be a hearing conference in Accra in September this year with the CEO of the Foundation, Bill F. Austin and wife in attendance. As part of the conference, hearing aids would be distributed to pupils that were screened during this exercise.
So far, Cape Coast School for the Deaf, Abomosu School for the Deaf and Adjei Kojo School for the Deaf (Ashiaman) have had many of their students examined and provided with hearing aids that have enhanced their ability to hear, he added.
He stated that, the Foundation would go on follow-up trips to the schools to assess the extent to which the hearing aids are functioning and helping the students.
The Audiology Department, led by Mrs Jemima Fynn, and supported by staff of the school, examined the ears, did waxing and took impression of the pupils of the school, among others.