The Anambra State Government has flagged off of the presentation of 1,000 Prosthetic Limbs Fittings to physically-challenged persons in the state.

The Prosthetic Limbs Fittings partnership gesture which had 270 initial beneficiaries was manufactured by consumable goods distribution giant, Tolaram Foundation of India and sponsored by the Rotary Foundation of Victoria Garden City Lagos. It was attracted by the wife of the State Governor, Chief Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano, through her pet project, Caring Family Enhancement Initiatives (CAFÉ)

Speaking at the flag-off on Tuesday, Governor Willie Obiano expressed delight with the tripartite partnership which, according to him, was “essentially to reach out in special ways to our brothers and sisters who need to be empowered.”

While thanking Tolaram Foundation and Rotary International for the sponsorship, he said that CAFÉ is committed to making life worth living for the physically challenged and making those people proud. He promised to increase the gesture by making more prosthetic limbs available to others with such needs in the state.

The governor who had wished that his wife and founder of CAFÉ who travelled on official assignment with the Wife of the President was present, appreciated the fact that the CAFÉ projects have made the wife to toil day and night “to add value to the lives of special members of the human community,” as she had done before her present public life.

Governor Obiano stated that few months after the launch of CAFÉ, the pet project “underscores her passion, commitment and bold effort at giving meaning to the lives of the dispossessed and disadvantaged.”

The Governor outlined activities the First Lady had carried out to include, renovation of the Basden Memorial School, Isulo, targeted at giving the challenged children quality education and boosting the attendance to ante-natal clinics through enlightenment programmes and advocacy visits to rural and hard-to-reach areas of communities in the state in order to promote maternal and child health and to reduce child and maternal mortality; empowerment programmes for indigent persons and widows in LGAs through provision of seed money as take-off grants; and agriculture empowerment initiatives like provision of improved seedlings to rural women farmers in partnership with cooperative societies.

He stated that the Artificial limbs presentation ceremony to the physically challenged and amputees in the state falls into the programmes carried out by CAFÉ as “mission of giving back self-esteem and hope of a better and productive life to persons within this realm.”

Earlier in his Opening Remark, Hon Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joe Akabuike, said that the government intervention in the health sector is benefitting from the programmes of CAFÉ which reaches out to the less privileged and people in hard to reach areas. He also observed that many organisations are identifying with and ready to partner with the governor’s wife.

In her remarks, Head of Tolaram Foundation, Ms. Meha Mehra, said that they are committed to producing more quality prosthetic limbs to meet the needs of the beneficiaries, sponsors, CAFÉ and government partners. In his goodwill message, President of Rotary Club of Victoria Garden City, Lagos Sir Dr. Chris Anyakorah, said that Rotary is delighted to be sponsoring the project and partnering with CAFÉ and the Anambra State government to provide succor to the physically challenged persons in the society. He assured that they will make available three hundred more prosthetic limbs to Anambra early next year to keep smiles on the faces of the needy.

Reacting on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mr. Benson Igbokwe from Nnewi expressed their happiness for the gesture and thanked the wife of the governor and CAFÉ for choosing them to benefit from what he described as a wonderful Christmas gift to the physically challenged persons in Anambra State.

•Photo shows Governor Obiano addressing a cross section of Amputees and the physically challenged . . . Tuesday at the Women Development Center, Awka.

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