By Atiku Galadima, Maiduguri
In a bid to promote economic independence and inclusive community care, Learning Through Skills Acquisition Initiative (LETSAI) has empowered 160 persons with disabilities (PWDs) and 80 vulnerable persons in Borno State with livelihood skills, mobility aids and business startup support.
The empowerment programme, implemented in collaboration with Christoffel Blinden Mission (CBM), trained beneficiaries including women in skills such as traditional cap knotting, shoemaking and tailoring. Participants were drawn from Maiduguri metropolis and various local government areas of the state.
Speaking during a graduation of participants trained on livelihood skills and distribution of assistive device funded by Christoffel Blinden Mission (CBM) and implemented by Learning Through Skills Acquisition Initiative (LETSAI), the Programme Officer of LETSAI, Noah John, who represented the Executive Director, Mariam Aliyu, said the intervention was designed using a community-based approach to ensure that support was tailored to the actual needs of beneficiaries.
“The reason we are here is to distribute startup kits to persons with disabilities and other vulnerable persons through our community-based approach,” he said.
“We identified their needs and are supporting them with livelihood skills and assistive devices to enhance their mobility and self-reliance.”
As part of the empowerment package, LETSAI distributed sewing machines, tricycles for persons with physical and intellectual impairments, as well as 28 medicated eyeglasses.
John said more than 1,600 persons would benefit from assistive devices, while 80 beneficiaries directly received skills acquisition training.
The initiative was welcomed by disability advocacy groups and community leaders. The Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Borno State chapter, Ahmadu Umar, said the intervention would significantly reduce street begging, particularly in Maiduguri.
He commended LETSAI and its partners for the gesture and called on other organisations to emulate the initiative.
Also speaking, a community leader, Wakil Barma, urged beneficiaries not to dispose of the starter kits, noting that the support would help ease their hardship.
He described the programme as timely, especially in the aftermath of years of Boko Haram insurgency in the state.
