My interaction with the hearing impaired began in 1997 when I was just nine years old. Since then I have been working with them in many capacities.
Bridge Builders Foundation, is a nonprofit aimed at fostering the rights of the disabled children and youths to achieve their goals through effective and quality education. All through these years, many have held the same perception towards hearing impaired persons as second class citizens who need help to survive and are mostly unproductive to society. Unfortunately, most family members of hearin
g impaired persons hold the same belief and thus train their “normal” children in school and neglect the deaf children or send them to cheap schools.This has gone a long way in creating in most of them a mindset and belief that they are not good enough for society and can only achieve little, thereby limiting their drive and pursuit for greatness and thus making them settle for less. My main aim of setting up this foundation is to correct this anomaly in society and grant deaf children equal opportunities to achieve their full potentials and dreams. This idea however is not alien to many but be that as it may, Nigeria as a country has not fully integrated persons with disability (PWD) into all spheres of society. At the federal level, the government is doing what it can to bring a solution to this issue. However, at the grassroots, people need to be sensitized and realize the need for the involvement of every member of society into the development process. My foundation is not only aimed at giving the deaf a voice but also aimed at bringing out the best in them through education and entrepreneurship.
