The trade in mobile phone cards has gained ascendancy in Ghana, embracing all manner of people who have found it convenient as a source of livelihood that offers income. And such is the diversity of the people engaged in the activity, that the visually impaired are also claiming their stake. Stephen Opoku Hanson is a 44-year-old blind vendor of mobile phone cards, who plies his trade near the Odorkor market in Accra. And just as he has been doing for three years now, Mr Opoku, as he is affectionately called by acquaintances, has become a permanent fixture on the main Odorkor-Kwashieman highway. "In fact, I had desired long ago to get involved in selling mobile phone cards but got discouraged by family members anytime I broached the topic. They felt that with my condition, I could not do anything. But I set out to prove them wrong and now, here I am," a confident-looking Opoku narrated. He said before engaging in the sale of mobile phone cards, he had been using his fridge in his sitting room to sell ice-blocks in commercial quantities. In his new job as a mobile phone card vendor, Opoku is an independent businessman responsible for setting up his workplace for each day's work, which includes buying merchandise and manning the daily operations. Opoku said he found his niche and learned a lot about the phone card business all by himself. "Initially, I used to pick the phones of my siblings, but they were quick to collect them back fearing that I may damage them. So, I decided to pay close attention to pocket calculators since they were of almost the same layout as mobile phones. This enabled me to master the positioning of the numbers," He said smiling. The difference, he soon gathered, was the inclusion of certain mathematical symbols on calculators which was quite unlike mobile phones. Having mastered the art of using the mobile phone, he set to work to establish himself in the field. Amazingly, Opoku is able to identify the different kinds of cards and their various units on them, as well as cash denominations quite easily. How does he do that? "For the cards, I feel the surfaces and edges with my fingers. I am also conversant with the various sizes and shapes in which the various units come. For instance, a one cedi Zain phone card comes in the same rectangular shape as the Kasapa one cedi card. But when felt, the Kasapa cards have jagged edges that are more compact than that of the Zain cards which have jagged edges that are a little spread out," he said triumphantly "In addition," he went on, "Zain, Vodafone and Kasapa cards are glossy, while Tigo cards feel more like rubber. MTN cards are more like paper. The 50-unit MTN card is big and rectangular in shape and also bigger than all the other cards." His only difficulty, he said, is with cards that come in 100 and 200 units, mainly because he does not trade much in these in view of his limited working capital. Stephen Opoku Hanson was not born blind but became visually impaired at the age of 32, while working as a fisherman in his hometown, Abandze, in the Central Region. "It was in 1996, not too long after the end of the Africa Cup of Nations that was hosted in South Africa. I was a fisherman then and I've had sand going into my eyes over a period but on that particular occasion, a lot of sand entered my eyes and scratched my eye balls so bad that it rendered me totally blind. My family and I sought various medications but to no avail," he said, casting glum on the interview. But he cheered up, knowing that he was rendering beneficial service to the public after all. "I want my fellow brothers and sisters who are visually impaired and who beg for alms on the streets to know that there is no respect accorded them. I, therefore, advise them to seek a vocation. Though it might be difficult in the beginning, it would prove to be worthwhile later," he said. Opoku said he was appealing to mobile phone companies, NGOs and civil society organisations to assist him with an office phone, capable of carrying a chip, to enable him expand his business to include transfers and also train fellow visually impaired persons desirous of learning the trade. He said it was his desire to also learn computer to enable him fit well into the ICT age currently prevailing all over the world. He urged the government to consider employing the physically handicapped to be in charge of the collection of tolls in place of the able-bodied who currently are manning such positions. Source: The Mirror/Ghana