I’m a co-founder of a youth led Non Profit Organization called Platinum Intervention Care Initiative (platinumintervention.org) where we focus on Internally displaced people, Almajiri (young destitutes) and People living with disability.
On December 3rd, 2018, we began raising funds to improve mobility and accessibility for disabled students in FCT, Abuja. Our aim was to build disability ramps in public schools in the FCT and also give out wheelchairs to students who need them. We chose public schools because they are the most affordable in the community and such cater to the needs of children from indigent homes which are our target population.
Due to the invaluable support of well meaning individuals, we were able to raise N425, 000. With N360, 000, we were able to ramp up Government Secondary School, Nyanya including actual money spent on budding materials, labour, logistics and financial aid to one of the disabled students.
We built over 21 durable ramps in the school to aid accessibility into classrooms, libraries, laboratories, administrative blocks and also complete a wheelchair pathway in the school. The school principals and special educators expressed their profound gratitude, emphasizing on how these was a unique and valuable project that will ensure the admittance of more mobility challenged students into the school. Students like Saidu Ali no longer have to suffer the indignity of crawling to their classrooms and can now participate in school activities like other students and hopefully grow into independent and productive members of the society instead of being reduced to objects of charity and welfare their entire lives.
A big thank you to everyone who contributed in cash and in kind to this project. Together, we are making Nigeria an inclusive society for all, one public school at a time.
Platinumintervetion.org
📷: Richard Ezekiel
