According to the World Bank, 9 out of 10 persons with disability in the world do not have access to glasses, smartphones, wheelchairs, prosthetics, hearing aid and other life-changing assistive technology they need. In Africa, more than 80% of persons with disability are poor and they cannot afford assistive technologies which enhances the lives of persons with disability. The Global Disability Forum estimated that in 2050, about 2 billion individuals will need assistive technology to go to school get a job or play a full role in their families or communities.
This project targets empowering persons with disability by developing the skills and talents of young individuals to create affordable assistive technologies that can be used by persons with disability. This project will inspire innovation that is centered on empowering persons with disability to do what seemed impossible.
Many persons with disability in Ghana are excluded from education, work, community and family life. In Ghana, persons with disability are mostly not considered as part of the labor force. Meanwhile, their efforts and talents can contribute to the economy.
In addition to this, persons with disabilities incur high costs and as a result, have lower incomes in the absence of assistive technology. This has led to a high risk of poverty and unrealized potential from the individuals with the country level. The level of hardship coupled with superstitious belief leaves a large majority of persons with disability with no reason than to beg on the streets. The vicious cycle of poverty has become part and parcel of their generation since they always have to beg to take care of their families. For those who have children, what they earn from begging, has never been enough to take their wards through the education they wish them to achieve.
In Ghana and most parts of Africa, majority of children with special needs do not receive appropriate education if offered any form of education at all. Many inclusive schools do not have the right support services and learning aids that can help persons with disability to receive quality education Many children with special needs in inclusive schools drop out of school because of the difficulty in studying and those who manage to go through end up with poor grades.
A typical example is the exemption of persons with visual impairment from studying science and mathematics in senior high schools in Ghana. This exempts visually impaired students in Ghana from some professions and does not inclusive the students in STEM Education. Many visual impaired students are left out in other classes because of their disability especially when describing graphical images. This makes the learning process tedious and unattractive for the students who are visually impaired.
The purpose of Tech Era is to empower persons with disabilities, schools, organizations and the less privileged in Africa through technology and capacity building programs to enable them to reach their fullest potential. We work in special needs schools, inclusive schools, independently supported living facilities, rural communities,and universities in Ghana. We are proud of being able to train more than 100 visually impaired students to use assistive technology that enables them to attain educational inclusion, get a job and play a full role in their families and communities. We are also proud of empowering over 80 college students to make an impact across the country with about 8 different projects.
The projects include;
Developing technologies for persons with disability and also train persons with disabilities to use technologies to develop their skills and have access to quality education and an inclusive world.
Developing learning aids for the blind using 3D technology to help them learning mathematics and science which is currently not taught in inclusive schools in Ghana. We are also working on using 3D to build prosthetics for amputees which is about $20 instead of the $3000.
Training the blind students at Okuapeman to write WASSCE with laptops instead of braille. By doing this, about 80% of visually impaired students will get the chance to move into tertiary institutions other than the 30% which is recorded every year because of the use of braille during exams.
Training visually impaired students at University of Education Winneba to use technology in order to imporve academic performance.
Running a fellowship program for the blind that facilitates the transition of visually impaired students from High school to college through capacity building programs and equip them during during college with entrepreneurship, leadership and digital skills training as well internship and community service opportunities so they are fully equipped for the job market.
Running a free onlie sign language class
Running an independent living accomodation and respite unit for young adults with autism and cerebal palsy where they are taught to be independent by training them in varied skills like music, beading, Robotics, 3D design, Electronics etc.
Training young individuals in technical senior high schools in robotics and programming who are developing autonomous car modules to collect trash cans.
We have been a major stakeholder in organizing inclusive education policy review seminars across the country. We work closely with the British Council in Ghana and UK Department for International Development office in Ghana on issues pertainingto persons with disability.
We are in partnership with major stakeholders including disability organizations, inclusive and special schools and universities to deliver assistive technology solutions to improve the lives of persons with disability and make what seemed impossible, possible.
