Members of the Somali Business Association in South Sudan with University of Juba student, Emmanuel Gai [center] after they made an announcement during a press briefing in Juba - Credit | Eye Radio | January 26, 2022

The Somali Business Association in South Sudan has offered a full-time scholarship to Emmanuel Gai, a University student who was born without upper-limbs.

This is after Eye Radio highlighted Gai’s plight last week.

Gai, is a first-year student pursuing Bachelors of Economics and Banking at the University of Juba.

He uses his feet for writing.

Last week, Gai told Eye Radio that he is facing financial challenges to pay his tuition.

He also says his mobility to the campus to attend lectures is another blow for him to achieve his dreams.

He appealed to well-wishers to help him achieve his dreams.

In a press conference on Wednesday, the Chairman of the Somalia Business Association, Said Jama Musa says Gai’s educational journey will be sponsored fully by the association.

“We as the Somali community in Juba South Sudan, we got the information about the Emmanuel issue and we discussed it. Somebody like him who has an ambition to do something needs support,” Said Musa told the Media.

“We decided as a Somali Business community to sponsor him up to the end of his Education, we want to stand with him, we want to support him, somebody who has an interest in helping himself. It is very good to stand with him.”

For his part, Abdullahi Hassan who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Somali Business Association in South Sudan said they have taken full responsibility for his tuition and transport.

“We have been discussing it with the members of the family. They are the ones who told us his needs, his urgent needs. We have taken full responsibility for his tuition,” Hassan said.

“They [Gai family] told us his residence is very far from the university, so he was facing difficulty. There is also other assistance that we have given to them. We have allocated transport and they told us he needs a motorbike.”