Born Poor, But Now An Accounts Officer: The Story Of A Physically Challenged [PHOTO]

BORN AS poor and physically challenged on November 4,1984 by a physically challenged single mother ,Comfort Nyarko, a resident of Ashaiman near Tema in the Greater Accra region, the success story of Diana Frimpong, now an accounts officer at the New Juaben Municipal Assembly continues to inspire many in the region. Miss Frimpong, about 24.7 inches tall-shorter than the average 2-year-old was abandoned by her father due to her deformity when she was born. Her single mother, also physically challenged was left alone to face the wrath of the world. Narrating her inspirational story to the DAILY HERITAGE when the paper caught up with her at her office, Miss Frimpong said her father abandoned her when she was born with the physical deformity. She said life was so difficult that her mother was compelled to beg on the street to take care of her. Later, the mother returned with her to their home town, Anum Boso in the Eastern region to seek help from the family. But, they were disappointed since the family members were reluctant to support them because they saw them as �demons.� Miss Frimpong said the mother started selling local gin popularly known as �akpeteshie� to take care of her when she was enrolled in basic school. She said with the support of an Uncle, she completed Junior Secondary School (now Junior High School), but sadly the Uncle later died. She said her hope of furthering her education waned since the only Uncle supporting her had passed away. She said attempts made to get support from her family members were met with insults and insinuations that she was �useless� and that they would not help such a �useless� person. She said even though it was painful, she kept pushing for support until one day a teacher in the community asked her to narrate her story to one Addo Gyau, who had then returned from abroad. Turn around As fate would have it, the man accepted to pay her fees at the Senior High School level so she got admitted at Annum Presbyterian Senior High School. �Life was not easy in the school since the man only paid for the fees. Buying books and other things for my education was very difficult, but I was able to complete in 2003,� she stated. She said, at school she faced victimization and discrimination, but she was not discouraged. Diana, as she is affectionately called managed to pass all the subjects except mathematics. Attempts to get support to re-sit and write mathematics again was met with another financial challenge, compelling her to start engaging in petty trading to save to further her education. She said after staying in the house for four years, she got admitted to study DBS at Koforidua Polytechnic where she completed in 2009 and had her national service at the Municipal Assembly. Her hard work earned her employment as an accounts officer at the assembly. Diana is now specializing in accounting at Data Link University College and aspires to set up a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to enable her tell her story to encourage persons with disability to persevere and focus on what they want to do in future without being discouraged by any form of victimization and discrimination in society. She said the NGO would raise funds to support the education of the physically challenged in the country.