Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has officially handed over a two-bedroom apartment to a cured octogenarian leper, Daari Poga.
This comes after a JoyNews Hotline documentary, ‘Withered Skins’ by Seth Kwame Boateng revealed that Madam Poga was left destitute by leprosy.
She was afflicted by leprosy at a young age and has since lost all 10 fingers and eight toes to the disease.
Living on the outskirt of Gurungu in the Upper West region, Madam Poga was forced to live in dilapidated five meters by six meter mud hut with her granddaughter Adjara after losing four of her 10 children and being abandoned by the rest.
In less than 24 hours after her story was aired on all JoyNews’ platforms, the Vice President came to her rescue by donating food supplies and toiletries among others.
Touched by her circumstances, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia promised to build Madam Poga a decent home and in six weeks has constructed and fully furnished two-bedroom house for her.
Addressing the media at a brief ceremony to formally hand over the building on Tuesday, the Vice President said the smiles on the faces of Madam Poga and her granddaughter Adjara was enough to gladden anyone’s heart.
“Today is a happy day, not just for me, but more especially my mother here Daari Pogo and our child Adjara. I am so happy.
“As you know, I am a Patron of the Lepers Aid Society, which helps to rehabilitate cured lepers. When I saw the Joy News report by Seth Kwame Boateng I was deeply touched, and immediately reached out to help.
“It appears as if she has been abandoned by her family due to her unfortunate affliction. But that is not how we should treat each other; we should be each other’s keeper.
“Today I am here to formally hand over this house to Daari, and assure her that we will continue to make sure she is well looked after. That is how we should treat each other. No one should be forced to live the way she was living.”
Dr Bawumia then urged society to welcome and integrate cured lepers into their midst, as they no longer carried the disease.
“We should not shun cured lepers. Science has clearly shown that they cannot pass the disease on. Let us welcome them, make them part of our everyday lives and more importantly, show them love after contracting a disease through no fault of theirs.”
Beaming with smiles, Madam expressed her profound gratitude to Dr Bawumia for his kind gesture.
“I never thought of ever getting such a house, I was rejected and people thought I was going to eat grass but today, look at me, I have such a nice pace to lay my head. So on behalf of my entire family we want to say thank you.”
Source: myjoyonline.com
