A 52-year-old visually impaired man sells is making money by selling coconut at Akropong-Akuapem in the Eastern Region.
This is a surprise to many since the sale of coconut involves the use of sharp cutlasses to rip the husk from the nut before selling to customers.
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According to Nyadu Kwasi, he has been in the business for the past 15 years. He uses the income to take care of his wife and seven children in school.
“I started this thing about 15 years now and in fact, it has helped me a lot to look at my children, wife and also myself. I myself climb the Coconut tree and cut the coconut down and after that, I pick it, carry it to the road side and transport to Akropong after paying the owners,” he told Accra-based Starr FM.
He said many consumers prefer to buy from him due to his disability. He said he also faces challenges including access to transportation and hassle in getting coconut fruits from owners in surrounding villages due to unfair competition.
He is, therefore, appealing to philanthropists to support him with at least a tricycle to enable him to convey coconut fruits from the villages to Akropong to sell.
“This work, in fact, it is tedious work, I need many things to help me do the work and I am not getting it but…by God’s grace, I will get some help. At least when I get tricycle known locally as Aboboyaa or truck to carry my fruits from place to place to sell in fact it will help me a lot, so I am appealing for help. Also, I need a place to build a Container kiosk,” he said.
Some customers who buy from Nyadu said they are amazed that he did the job perfectly and faster than his competitors who could see.
Meanwhile, the Headmistress of the Akropong School for the Blind, Mahela Narh, says she is not surprised at the efforts of Gyadu because their students are trained to believe that disability is not inability.
“That is why I want society to demystify this primitive mindset about persons with disability and instead of killing or abandoning their disabled children in the bush, should rather bring them here; we will shape them to be useful to society. Nyadu is among a number of students excelling in many areas, we have teachers, lecturers, businessmen, Radio presenters, DJs etc. who are all blind and came here.”