Gifty Asiedua is 7 years old. Her favourite colour is blue, her favourite food is rice and she told us that her favourite game is just playing with other children.
She’s had a really tough time because there was something wrong with one of her legs, then a few months ago she went into hospital for an operation to straighten it but the operation went wrong and they had to amputate.
But she’s got this amazing character – you can see it in the photos – she only had the operation a few weeks ago, and she’s already accepted it and is really upbeat and cheerful, just as she always was despite her gammy leg.
Gifty’s father abandoned her and her mother because of the stigma of her deformity, so her care fell to her grandfather. He was just a subsistence farmer and he had 6 children, 3 grandchildren and his ailing wife to care for, and then he died. So Gifty’s mother is now single handedly caring for her 5 siblings and the 3 grandchildren and her ailing mother. She washes dishes in a local canteen, and she takes the leftovers from people’s plates back home for the family to eat. (Which is not only really sad, but also really unhealthy in such heat where the food will already have started rotting.)
As you can imagine, they are in a bad way being that desperately poor. To have Gifty sponsored to go to our school is an enormous help. Not only will Gifty get a good education and be fed, our staff make sure our children have a very accepting helpful attitude towards disability, whereas state school children and even teachers can be merciless.
