25 Women complete skills training
Twenty-five women in five farming communities in the Obuasi municipality have completed a three-week skills training sponsored by AngloGold Ashanti, Ghana.
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They were selected from New Dokyiwaa, Kokotesua, Nhyiaso, Binsere and Abompe communities. The programme was undertaken under the AngloGold Ashanti Sustainable Development programme, in line with the organisation’s community responsibility programme.
The programme, which involved the training of the beneficiaries in soap and beads making, was meant to create alternative income earning opportunities for the people in the communities with a view to easing their dependence on the mine.
A total of 125 women from 15 communities would benefit from the training by December this year.
Graduation ceremony
Speaking at a graduation ceremony for the women at Wawase, Mr John Kowus Owusu, Senior Manager, Communications and Public Affairs, AngloGold Ashanti, congratulated the women on availing themselves of the training, and urged them to take advantage of the increasing demand for quality soap in both rural and urban sectors of the country to produce to meet the market.
The AngloGold Ashanti Manager for Social and Economic Development, Nana Ampofo Bekoe, explained that before the commencement of the programme, a comprehensive needs assessment research was carried out to collect and collate the actual needs of women in the critical communities, saying: “Majority of them suggested skills which would enable them to collectively ease their dependence on the mine and become self-sufficient.”
Nana Ampofo said AngloGold Ashanti would continue to care and invest in the communities and societies where it operated to improve the social and economic lives of the people.
Advice to women
He advised the women to work as a team and share their experience with other women who were yet to participate in the programme, adding that: “Instead of seeing yourselves as competitors you should complement each other’s efforts to ensure that your skills benefit everybody in your communities.”
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Madam Grace Boateng, who facilitated the training, commended AngloGold Ashanti for sponsoring the programme and advised the women to use their skills to generate income to support their families and the communities where they lived.
Madam Abena Mansa, a participant from Kokotesua said the ‘anti-poverty’ aspect of the programme was targeted at equipping women with skills to generate income to supplement their husbands’ income and make it easier to look after their dependents, “particularly our children.”