Seyram's Hope and Prayer
Donation protected
Seyram’s Hope and Prayer
Hello, My name is Berenice Mulubah and I am a friend of Seyram’s Mom, Fatu Gbedema. Please help us support Seyram. Together with other friends, and Common Ground 4 Exceptionals ( a Down Syndrome Advocacy Group on FB), we have created a virtual team across the US, Liberia, Ghana and Belgium to raise funds for Seryam who has Down Syndrome. We asking you to open your heart to him. He is desperately in need of your love and help.
The world views Covid 19 as a dreadful viral epidemic that has plagued Earth with almost all people fearing for their lives. For Seyram, Covid 19 means so much more. 2020 was the year that he was grounded at home, unable to go to school, unable to play outside of the home, unable to visit the doctor, unable to eat proper nutrition, unable to leave the country to return to the US for help, unable to get respect from extended family members because he had Down Syndrome and his mother had no income for extended family. Covid 19 had dug deep into his life and unearthed his guts. He can still remember the words of his uncle ringing in his ears - an uncle who has never lived on his own or paid for his own care despite his 60 years, yelling at him: “you are stupid, you don’t understand anything, you need to get out of this house – you and your mother”.
While typical parents were able to either get home or online schooling for their kids at home, he was without any. If he could even find a crayon to color in an activity book, that would have been his highest moment. Almost every day in 2020 was chaotic and full of strife. It’s not that he caught the virus. No, he did not, but Covid 19 meant abject poverty and deeper exclusion from society for Seyram. He was invisible. It meant loss of income for his mother because she had spent all her savings on his inclusive education, all of $12,000 every year for four years without any help as a single mother and spent more on the extended family for 30 years while she was away trying to make ends meet for everyone. Grounded by the virus and under lockdown, Seyram’s mother had no help and little hope.
The year 2020 left Seyram with the desperate realization that all the things that he had taken for granted in life such as his basic needs being met, unconditional love and a nurturing home environment had come to a screeching halt. Things that were bad for his immunity and health such as gluten: white rice, white pasta and oatmeal, became welcome meals because it was that or hunger even if it would kill him because gluten free, brown pasta or brown rice cost 5 times more than the gluten packed options. Imagine a diabetic eating sugar to avoid getting sugar coma because he/she cannot go hungry. It was a vicious and dreadful cycle that he has been caught in. He had put on more than 30 pounds in a year– scary for a 14 year old , who is over 200 pounds and has very little tone because of Down Syndrome. This could spell diabetes. God forbid! He is still in an unhappy home environment because the extended family, equates money to love and if one had none along with a disability, then one was just an irritating insect to be swatted away like a fly because having Down Syndrome and being poor did not go together. In Liberian and Ghanaian society, majority of the uninformed population associate disability with witchcraft and curses. Most of these kids are aborted or abandoned.
Seyram is not a pariah, has acquired a year 7 level education for his competence and since his current situation is no indication of his destiny, things can change with your help. Recently, a Go-Fund-Me cause was organized by two friends of his mother last year to support his caregiving and nutrition. While the GoFundMe was successful in raising US$3000+ to support his nutrition and salary for a care giver, Seyram is now at a crossroads with respect to his education and needs your help to cross this threshold. Homeschooling is his only option right now because children with DS have low immunity.
Seyram’s mother is unable to work until she can get funds to hire a teacher for Seyram’s home schooling. It’s a chicken and egg situation in terms of prioritization. There have been a lot of challenges with care givers who require a lot of supervision and most of them are transitory by nature. Seyram needs to attract a caregiver that can stay for at least 6 months at a time. It means increasing the salary a little bit more to attract a high school ( Form 5) student who is self-directed so that the mother can focus on job hunting and networking to land a job. This is especially needed since she is a highly qualified senior professional.
Seyram will excel in a family and learning environment that expects more from him, believes in him, is patient with him and does not judge or compare him with typical children his age. It means that an environment where there is respectfulness and demonstration of confidence in his abilities will unlock and unleash most of his potential.
How to Donate
Your help and your referrals to people who can help can propel Seyram to actualize his dream for independence in life.
If you are in the US, please contribute to this cause through the GoFundMe link below.
gf.me/u/zgtfy3
If you are in Ghana please contribute through Momo Number 0558560086 ( Fatu Kokui Ama Gbedema)
If you are in Liberia, you can make a bank deposit at any Ecobank branch by calling the mother on Whatsapp ( +2338560086) for details.
Our target is $15,422 USD over a period of 6 months. It’s a tall order for this new Covid 19 dispensation but with God and a united front, anything is possible. We are including two innovative fund raising components to this cause. For instance, there is an opportunity to purchase memorabilia such as t-shirts or an African- Diaspora cookbook for people with food allergies like Seyram as a way to support. Please stay tuned for updates on these two components of the fund-raiser. After the 6 months, the family’s plan is to return to the US to get Seyram to receive social services support. Below is the breakdown of Seyram’s needs. We are encouraging donors to make payments directly to the names of institutions, service providers, teachers and hospitals( names of which will be provided in an update) to promote transparency. (Especially for air tickets and fees associated with home schooling and vocational training). When you donate, please indicate which activity you will be contributing to.
Hello, My name is Berenice Mulubah and I am a friend of Seyram’s Mom, Fatu Gbedema. Please help us support Seyram. Together with other friends, and Common Ground 4 Exceptionals ( a Down Syndrome Advocacy Group on FB), we have created a virtual team across the US, Liberia, Ghana and Belgium to raise funds for Seryam who has Down Syndrome. We asking you to open your heart to him. He is desperately in need of your love and help.
The world views Covid 19 as a dreadful viral epidemic that has plagued Earth with almost all people fearing for their lives. For Seyram, Covid 19 means so much more. 2020 was the year that he was grounded at home, unable to go to school, unable to play outside of the home, unable to visit the doctor, unable to eat proper nutrition, unable to leave the country to return to the US for help, unable to get respect from extended family members because he had Down Syndrome and his mother had no income for extended family. Covid 19 had dug deep into his life and unearthed his guts. He can still remember the words of his uncle ringing in his ears - an uncle who has never lived on his own or paid for his own care despite his 60 years, yelling at him: “you are stupid, you don’t understand anything, you need to get out of this house – you and your mother”.
While typical parents were able to either get home or online schooling for their kids at home, he was without any. If he could even find a crayon to color in an activity book, that would have been his highest moment. Almost every day in 2020 was chaotic and full of strife. It’s not that he caught the virus. No, he did not, but Covid 19 meant abject poverty and deeper exclusion from society for Seyram. He was invisible. It meant loss of income for his mother because she had spent all her savings on his inclusive education, all of $12,000 every year for four years without any help as a single mother and spent more on the extended family for 30 years while she was away trying to make ends meet for everyone. Grounded by the virus and under lockdown, Seyram’s mother had no help and little hope.
The year 2020 left Seyram with the desperate realization that all the things that he had taken for granted in life such as his basic needs being met, unconditional love and a nurturing home environment had come to a screeching halt. Things that were bad for his immunity and health such as gluten: white rice, white pasta and oatmeal, became welcome meals because it was that or hunger even if it would kill him because gluten free, brown pasta or brown rice cost 5 times more than the gluten packed options. Imagine a diabetic eating sugar to avoid getting sugar coma because he/she cannot go hungry. It was a vicious and dreadful cycle that he has been caught in. He had put on more than 30 pounds in a year– scary for a 14 year old , who is over 200 pounds and has very little tone because of Down Syndrome. This could spell diabetes. God forbid! He is still in an unhappy home environment because the extended family, equates money to love and if one had none along with a disability, then one was just an irritating insect to be swatted away like a fly because having Down Syndrome and being poor did not go together. In Liberian and Ghanaian society, majority of the uninformed population associate disability with witchcraft and curses. Most of these kids are aborted or abandoned.
Seyram is not a pariah, has acquired a year 7 level education for his competence and since his current situation is no indication of his destiny, things can change with your help. Recently, a Go-Fund-Me cause was organized by two friends of his mother last year to support his caregiving and nutrition. While the GoFundMe was successful in raising US$3000+ to support his nutrition and salary for a care giver, Seyram is now at a crossroads with respect to his education and needs your help to cross this threshold. Homeschooling is his only option right now because children with DS have low immunity.
Seyram’s mother is unable to work until she can get funds to hire a teacher for Seyram’s home schooling. It’s a chicken and egg situation in terms of prioritization. There have been a lot of challenges with care givers who require a lot of supervision and most of them are transitory by nature. Seyram needs to attract a caregiver that can stay for at least 6 months at a time. It means increasing the salary a little bit more to attract a high school ( Form 5) student who is self-directed so that the mother can focus on job hunting and networking to land a job. This is especially needed since she is a highly qualified senior professional.
Seyram will excel in a family and learning environment that expects more from him, believes in him, is patient with him and does not judge or compare him with typical children his age. It means that an environment where there is respectfulness and demonstration of confidence in his abilities will unlock and unleash most of his potential.
How to Donate
Your help and your referrals to people who can help can propel Seyram to actualize his dream for independence in life.
If you are in the US, please contribute to this cause through the GoFundMe link below.
gf.me/u/zgtfy3
If you are in Ghana please contribute through Momo Number 0558560086 ( Fatu Kokui Ama Gbedema)
If you are in Liberia, you can make a bank deposit at any Ecobank branch by calling the mother on Whatsapp ( +2338560086) for details.
Our target is $15,422 USD over a period of 6 months. It’s a tall order for this new Covid 19 dispensation but with God and a united front, anything is possible. We are including two innovative fund raising components to this cause. For instance, there is an opportunity to purchase memorabilia such as t-shirts or an African- Diaspora cookbook for people with food allergies like Seyram as a way to support. Please stay tuned for updates on these two components of the fund-raiser. After the 6 months, the family’s plan is to return to the US to get Seyram to receive social services support. Below is the breakdown of Seyram’s needs. We are encouraging donors to make payments directly to the names of institutions, service providers, teachers and hospitals( names of which will be provided in an update) to promote transparency. (Especially for air tickets and fees associated with home schooling and vocational training). When you donate, please indicate which activity you will be contributing to.
Fundraising team (2)
Berenice Mulubah
Organizer
Jacksonville, NC
Mabel Tolbert
Team member
