By Philip Tengzu
Charikpong, (UW/R), May 12, GNA-Some women and girls in 13 communities in the Nadowli-Kaleo District who received livelihood empowerment training have expressed hope about having improved standards of living through the training.
Over 350 women and girls from Nanga, Nadowli, and Duong communities, among others, were trained in income-generating activities, including soap and pastry making and food preparation.
The initiative formed part of the Girls and Women Economic Empowerment, Livelihood and Participation in Leadership (GWEEL) project implementation by the Africa Centre for Human Rights and Sustainable Development (AfCHuRSD-Ghana).
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during the training at Nanga, some teenage mothers indicated that the training would have a great impact on their lives and serve as a source of livelihood for them.
Ms. Diana (not her real name), a teenage mother, said: “With these skills we are getting here, I will put them to practice because it will help me a lot to get some money to support myself and my family.”
Pognaaa Domitila Boator, the Queen Mother of Nanga, indicated that women in that community faced many challenges, especially financial and economic constraints due to the lack of economic activity for them.
She explained that most of the women relied on farming, but they could not do much in farming because of the high cost of farm inputs.
She, therefore, expressed confidence that if they had the start-up capital to start the pastries, soap and food businesses, it would greatly transform their economies.
At the Duong community, Madam Eunice Doozie said: “With this training, I will be able to make soap, sell some and keep some for my family’s use, and I will not have to buy soap again.”
Also, Madam Martina Ansongmwini expressed her intention to borrow money from her Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) to invest in the soap-making business due to its potential to transform her economic fortunes.
The training participants expressed gratitude to AfCHuRSD-Ghana for the intervention and appealed for financial support to start the businesses after the training so that the skills they had gained would not be in vain.
Addressing the women at the training at Nanga, Madam Bernice Naah, the Executive Director of AfCHuRSD-Ghana, encouraged the women to take advantage of the training to improve their livelihoods.
She said her organisation took women and girls’ economic empowerment seriously and expressed optimism that the skills training would impact their lives meaningfully.
She added that it would help reduce the incidence of domestic violence as women would be economically independent to meet their needs while supporting their husbands in catering for their families.
Madam Naah also encouraged the teenage mothers not to throw their hands in despair, but to take advantage of opportunities such as the skills training to better their lives.
Funded by the Equal Opportunity Fund (EOF) Netherlands, the GWEEL project was being implemented in 20 communities in the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa, Wa West, Jirapa and Nadowli-Kaleo Districts.
GNA
CAE/GRB