TAMALE GHANA

CARDIS
‘That they may have life’

By Diarmuid Sheehan M.Afr.

CARDIS stands for CARe for the DISabled. Our aim is to care for the disabled people of Tamale, a city of more than 300,000 inhabitants. There are few social amenities for blind people and those with physical disabilities. There are four of us: Sister Joan of the Sisters of St Gildas and three MAfr: Brother Trevor Robinson, Father Diarmuid Sheehan, and Father Martin Balemans. We work with two salaried helpers. It is now 10 years since CARDIS came into existence and is thriving.

Br Trevor Robinson makes wheelchairs for people with disabilities. These are tricycles, which people can operate with their hands. He puts them together from water pipes and bicycle parts. He buys the materials on the neighbourhood market, or in Europe, when they are unavailable locally. Up till now, he has made more than 700 of these tricycles. The person concerned contributes 10 dollars towards the cost. This is not easy for them to find. The real cost is approximately 250 dollars. Brother started this work with unemployed street boys and made ten tricycles at a time.

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In Tamale, Brother Trevor Robinson, of the CARDIS PROJECT
that provides wheelchairs and new life to disabled persons

Now they make 50 at a time. The workshop remained open during the 6 months that Brother was absent on a sabbatical and this added more tricycles.

When a person with disabilities receives a wheelchair, the Scripture is fulfilled for him or her, a new world is created. Up till then, he or she would never have gone further than their compound and the surrounding houses. He or she would have had to crawl on all fours. During their whole lives, they would never have been further than the end of the street. The rest of the world did not exist for them. Now they go around with the speed of a bicycle, going almost everywhere they want to go. They also develop muscles, especially in the upper body. Until now, many of these people died young, due to pneumonia or other related diseases, because they did not move about. Now, they are stronger than anybody else.

Sister Joan takes care of all children who can still undergo an operation and learn how to walk. She also takes care of all those who need artificial limbs. She gets help from the Liliane Foundation, which will sponsor a child for an operation, revalidation and school fees up to age 22. It involves quite a lot of paperwork and follow-up. Sister has a part-time co-worker Issahaku, who is paid for the work he does, visiting the parents of the children, as well as other assistance. Fr Diarmuid Sheehan was in Ireland for the past 4 years. He will resume his valuable work again, assisting Sr Joan and Fr Martin with their activities. Fr Martin looks after all the blind people and those with other physical disabilities in town. They come and see him every Tuesday and Friday morning. Fr Martin has a full-time salaried co-worker, Zacharia. He has a phenomenal memory. Zacharia knows that every person with disabilities who comes will get assistance.

Most people with disabilities have no status whatsoever in the community. They are called ‘cripple’, a pejorative term. As they do not contribute in any way to the income of the family, the family would rather do without them and make them feel like that. We try to give them work to do. They can sell things, like soap, charcoal, firewood or second-hand clothes. If only they can get a start. We never provide them with money, always with the things they need to start a new life, like a sewing machine or material to make mats, etc.

In the past 10 years, more than 600 people have come and have been helped. We keep precise information on each one of them and Zacharia knows all of them, visits them and hears about their needs, their bereavements, etc. Zacharia visits them and Fr Martin will go with him, when he has time.

We also send people with disabilities to hospital, if something can be done for them, or we help them with orthopaedic surgery. Every year, we organise a Christmas party for blind people and another party for those with disabilities. They did not miss these parties this year; we welcomed 150 people on each day. They receive a soft drink, a good meal and a gift, a bar of soap and a new towel.

Social welfare in this town has a Children’s Home, which is an orphanage, (from birth to 3 years old), for little ones who are not wanted by the family. CARDIS helps the orphanage. There were no toilets, running water, showers, decent floors and very poor mattresses. This has now been looked after by CARDIS members. Social welfare also has a school for people with disabilities, who can come and live for 2 or 3 years and learn a trade. Often, the school is without money. The students would be sent home if CARDIS did not come to their rescue. We have renovated the school, given them a water supply and made sure that their needs are looked after. This school is of great importance, because up till the time they came to this school, these youngsters were at home.

They were ‘nobodies’. They did not even have a name . They were just called ‘cripple’. In the school, they have a cook to make meals for them, a real bed and they get instruction. They have teachers. They experience that they belong to mankind. It is interesting to see how they change and develop during the first 6 months, from a ‘cripple’ to a human being.

Diarmuid Sheehan