Touching story of a woman who struggles to cater for her 5 blind children

By Joseph Osei Oppong Brenya

When a blind child enters a family, be it by birth, accident, vision disorder, or adoption, parents and the others close to the youngster face the challenge of catering for that child. It is undoubtedly a daunting task to cater for a single disabled person, specifically, a blind person. So, how about a single mother, taking care of five blind children alone? That is the story of 65 year old Maame Abena Korkua, who for decades has struggled to provide food, shelter, and clothing for her five blind children at Bodomase, a village in the Sekyire Afram Plains District of the Ashanti Region.

This reporter Joseph Osei Oppong Brenya visited the family at their single-room mud house and has come through with this.

The first time I heard this story, I could hardly believe it. I’ve always

? ?lived in a community where one child is born blind or become blind much later in life; but to have five children of a single family go blind is indeed unusual. The story was painful so I decided to visit the family. I travelled from Kumasi to Kumawu to visit the village called Bodomase. With a description by the mother of the children, I managed to locate their single room structure made of mud, where the family is squeezed.

I met the first son Kofi Poku, sitting under a tree playing with some children. Although he could not see, with his stick, he managed to walk me to their home. I “engaged him in a conversation as we walked on.

The 5 of us are blind and its mystery to us. We have been thinking about this and we simply don’t understand. We did a test but we didn’t get any idea whether it is glaucoma which has made us blind, or not. It is beyond our understanding. In this town, when you are looking for the woman whose children are blind everyone will show you the house. This is where we live; it is very difficult for us because my parents don’t have any money to give me. My mum can’t provide what I will wear and eat; it is very difficult for her to even give me pocket money.”

When we finally got to the house, I saw three people moving around with sticks. I saw a blind woman cooking with the help of a young lady who could see.

Kofi Poku introduced them to me as his siblings who are all blind. The five blind siblings live with their mother in a single uncompleted mud-house with a kitchen made of aluminum roofing sheets.

The mother, Maame Abena Korkua, told me the harrowing story of how he single-handedly takes care of the five blind children. She first told me how her children went blind since they were not born blind at birth.

When I gave birth to my first child, he always complained of headaches and pains in his eyes

“I took him to several hospitals but he died

I had the second born and he also had eye problems and went blind later on.

The same happened with the other three children who also went blind.

The last one is schooling at Winneba

Life has become a misery for me

All the needs of the family have become a burden that I have to bear alone

Whether it is Fetching water for the family or going to farm, I have to do all these.

And I am growing weaker and weaker

It is only the grace of God which is keeping us going

My husband who is living elsewhere is now jobless after his cocoa farm withered away

I have begun putting up a structure so we can have a decent place to live

So if anyone can come to our aid we will be very grateful.”

It was indeed a sad tale to find a poor single mother take care of five blind children. As a poor farmer, her family survives on the little she makes from farming and gifts from philanthropists who are touched by their story. The family is seeking help to at least complete a room they are putting up so they can live in a decent accommodation. The blind children are members of a disable group in the district, but are not receiving anything since the five percent of the District Assembly’s Common Fund allocated for disabled persons is not forthcoming.

We will bring you more on this harrowing story in subsequent bulletins.