-Sends out public appeal for support
By: Jerromie S. Walters
Mr. Alexis Tuwee Worji Jr., Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Children’s Educational & Developmental Support Center (CEDS), is pleading with the national government for assistance as his organization works to ensure a real remedy for children with disabilities throughout Liberia. This support will help the NGO in its mission and support the cause of a better life for children with disabilities.
On Friday, September 30, 2022, Mr. Alexis Tuwee Worji Jr. spoke at the dedication of the Children’s Educational & Developmental Support Center (CEDS), the main office and safe home for kids with disabilities in White Fence Community, Soul Clinic.
Mr. Alexis Tuwee Worji said his dedication to the program remains unshakable as an institution with an unyielding willingness to care for children with disabilities, but if more is to be done, the necessity for the government’s engagement is inherent.
“Please listen, I’m speaking to the House of Representatives of the Liberian government. Every lawmaker undoubtedly has a handicapped child living in his or her neighborhood. Do we want these kids to become adults and start begging on the streets?” he questioned.
His family has directly funded the majority of the innumerable efforts the group has taken on, according to Alexis Tuwee Worji. He described the campaign as one that was started out of love. As a result, if more is to be done, prolonged support should be taken into accountThe US government has granted us a certificate to seek funds in the US, and that is something we are about to fight. We hope to gather funds in the US, but this initiative is Liberia’s own, he added. “Opening this home, 90% of the funding comes from us.
He continued, “Until this date, these children eat three times daily and require changing three to four times daily. We gave them a ton of clothes, food, and pampering. All these resource come out of our own pockets, and it’s difficult.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Children’s Educational & Developmental Support Center (CEDS) urged Liberians to take into account the difficulties that disabled children frequently face as a result of their condition and their parents’ inability to care for them as fundamental reasons to have them supported and properly cared for.
“Let’s make sure that no disabled child in the republic of Liberia ever goes to bed hungry or sleeps because their parents can’t afford it. Let’s relieve their parents of the responsibilities, let’s assume liability for “he intruded.”
In his role as the event’s keynote speaker, Alex N. S. Gborle, Head of the Joint Education Committee Secretariat of the National Legislature, urged the government to make the necessary provisions in the national budget for children with special needs, specifically for educational and other supply needs, to ensure that no one is left behind.
He made reference to what he called Liberians’ exclusion from education, which he strongly believed was the driving force behind the various conflicts the country’s citizens had to endure and is also a significant factor in the nation’s high illiteracy rate at the moment.
The Keynote Speaker urged parents in the various areas and neighborhoods to assist in caring for kids with disabilities and to submit their situations to organizations like CEDS that are interested in such matters.
A humanitarian organization called the Children’s Educational and Developmental Support Center was founded in 2016 to care for the needs and welfare of abandoned and special needs children in Africa.
Since its founding, CEDS has been working nonstop to fulfill its mission of giving children from birth to age 15 with medical supplies, food, clothing, water, sanitation supplies, pampers, prescriptions, as well as entertainment items and therapeutic treatment.
Alexis Worji, the CEO of CEDS, and Korpo Manjo, the co-CEO, were inspired to start the organization by their love of people and their commitment to helping those in need, particularly underprivileged children and children with special needs in Liberia, Africa, and around the world.
The institution’s financial situation, according to Mr. Alexis Tuwee Worji, started after he and his wife decided to save 30% of their combined income in order to collect money for the program.
That was a difficult effort, but with faith and dedication, from 2016 to 2018, we raised over US $30,000 and sent a half container to Liberia to start the program, he continued.
In a notable move, the facility began operations with a feeding program that included three square meals per day for one week, as well as the installation of a 43-inch Satcom cable TV on the pediatric ward at the James David Memorial Hospital in Paynesville City, Liberia.
However, CEDS will remain there for a while until the construction of its 15-bedroom headquarters, which is presently under way, is finished.
The main building of the institution, which serves as a sanctuary for challenged children, is located within a sizable enclosure that also houses bathrooms, a waiting area, a first aid station, dorms for boys and girls, and other necessary amenities.
