Here’s why this visually-impaired teenager is helping her mother’s gari business thrive

The eldest of her mother's two children, a father who wants nothing to do with her and having come down with total blindness by the age of eight following a surgery gone wrong, Jennifer Dede didn't think it was right to allow her mother do all it took to keep the home.

Visually-impaired and with her mother's only skill being the preparation of gari, this teenager and second-year student of the Okuapeman Senior High School in the Eastern region knew she had to do everything necessary to also learn gari-making.

In an interview for GhanaWeb TV's The Untold, Jennifer shared how easily she got motivated to start learning the food preparation process, knowing all too well that there will be no help coming from anywhere else.

“I can’t just watch her doing all those kinds of stuff and sometimes, after speaking with my dad, she’ll be like, what did I do [wrong]? All other parents are very lucky and I’m here and she can’t even help me. I remember her telling me that when she goes to the farm to bring the cassava, there’ll be nobody to carry her and she’s going to sit on the floor, carry the small that she can, and then use the knife to pick the other ones from the floor and add it on her head.

“You know, it’s my job; I can’t just sit there watching my mom do all those things, and then, I know it makes her feel bad. Already, in my visually-impairment, it makes her feel something, which every other mother feels the same. I just don’t want her to be suffering alone,” she explained.

The team from GhanaWeb TV visited Jennifer in her little village of Odortom in the Eastern Region, where we discovered her singing talent.

She perfectly delivered a rendition of Dolly Parton’s ‘Coat of many colours’ and it was fire!

Hitting on the exact key and notes, Jennifer sang word for word as though she was auditioning for a million-dollar music contest.

Jennifer says she chose to start this interview with this song to show her appreciation to her mother for all the sacrifices she’s been making to give her a bright future.

“I appreciate her so much, the efforts and what we’ve been through together… even though we don’t have that money, she still tries she still makes that effort and I’m so so proud of her,” she said.

She dreams of becoming a great musician one day and hopes to become a source of inspiration to many through her music.

All persons hoping to donate to Jennifer Dede should go through 0240340058 - Esther Korkor Kwesi (Dede's mother).

Watch the full interview here: