At the corner of every major street in Monrovia you find blind Liberian citizens who must beg for money every day before meeting their daily needs despite all the organizations that are supposedly here to look after their needs.

Charles Russell, who has to be led by his eleven year old son, Obediah Russell two times every week in the streets, says he has no support and has to beg for money to look after his family.

“I have three children, I was born blind. I have high school education but have no job and I want to use my hands to work but can’t find some.”

“Obediah is my future, I feel for him when I bring him in the sun but if we don’t do it my sister, how will we survive?” he asked.

“We have been to the National commission on Disability. They told us to take them our action plan and we did. But [we] have not heard anything about it since we took it to them. If only government can come and say, ‘you disabled come and work in our offices’; even as sweepers it will be alright, but they are not doing it.

Come to our aid to help us help in the rebuilding process of our country. What the able people can do other blind people can also do it,” he pleaded with government.

“I have been blind for twenty-five years and have been to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital and the Mercy Ship where I was declare blind forever,” says Tarnue Korta, the father of little Amos Korta who walks miles under the burning sun to ensure that he and his father get enough money to feed their family everyday.

“I have six living children,” Tarnue says. “Amos is the oldest and he is ten years old and is in k-2. I don’t like bringing him in the street but I have to support them.”
He says he has never been to the Commission on Disabilities for help and is not getting assistance from the Christian Association of the Blind (CAB). Though he was offered schooling, he refused and claimed that only the big people in these group are getting the money.

“I don’t know how to read the Braille but I would like to learn,” he expressed.

Because of the civil conflict, a 1977 blind graduate of the Booker Washington Institute (BWI) who did secretariat science, Daniel Logan is now singing for his living at the corner of Carey and Warren Streets.

“The lack of sponsorship has turned me into the person I am today. I can read the Braille and type very well but I’m unable to find a job because we the disable are not earnest with each other. Beyan Kota [president of CAB] is pocketing the money for himself while the blind go on to suffer. Government provides US$500.000 for us every year but we don’t know where the money is going.”

“But the poor people can share with us and even other organizations,” he added. “We can’t stay home; if we stay home how will we survive?”

Daniel is appealing to government to build more institutions for the blind and organize training programs so they can make positive contributions to society.

But blind Olivia Cole a mother of three children, who got blind during the 92’ Octopus civil conflict and is a high school drop out, sings with Daniel on the same corner to support she and her three children.

Though all the blind beggars interview by this paper said they make between LD$200 to 500.00 ($ US 3–8) every day, they still have problems that need to be taken care of and want their children to be able to use education to progress.

The CAB’s Beyan Kota points out that many of the blind on the streets prefer the easy handout money to the working to learn a trade. “They are lazy and not disciplined enough to sit and do an honest day’s work. They are taking advantage of the sympathy of the Liberian society in order to get their daily bread,” he says of those begging.

Similarly, the Association for Disable Female International (ADFI) in Slipway community has expressed their disappointment over the attitudes of some of their colleagues for not wanting to do something for themselves. ADFI hopes that government will one day pass a law that will prohibit people from begging in the streets.

According to spokespeople for the ADFI, occasionally when they approach the physically challenged women to invite them to their offices to learn skills and trades, the women request to be paid or refuse blatantly because they are getting enough money from the streets to feed their children. However, they are also training 150 women with various disabilities to produce clothing, beads and other goods that they can sell to earn money instead of having to beg for it.

They believe that all disabled people – including the blind – have every right and ability to participate in society, provided they are given the proper training.