NGO trains Agbogbloshie head porters, truck pushers
Hundreds of young people who would have become social misfits but for the training they received in literacy and skills development from CITY of God, a non-governmental organisation established by the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra, now have hope of improving their fortunes.
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The NGO’s literacy and skills training centre, which was opened in 2002, has produced over 3,000 students most of whom have found their way back into mainstream educational institutions. Some are in junior and senior high schools, while others have graduated from polytechnics and other tertiary institutions.
The training centre is situated at Agbogbloshie, also called ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’, and was established by Father Arcadio Sicher. It holds night school for female head porters otherwise known as ‘kayayei’, and truck pushers who live in the vicinity and are prepared to further their education.
In 2013, Fr. Sicher handed over the centre to Fr. Subash Chittilappilly, who is currently managing the place.
Night school at Agbogbloshie
Students at the centre are grouped into two classes and are taught basic English, Mathematics and Computer Studies. Those who already have knowledge in the basics of the subjects taught are conditioned for re-entry into the mainstream educational system.
The school has six volunteer teachers and each class has about 60 students, all of whom are eager to learn or continue with their education.
A teacher with the City of God, Mr Kuchando Abraham Kwabena, in a chat with the Daily Graphic at the centre, said it was amazing how the head porters and truck pushers could still learn to read and write after a hard day’s work in the market.
Young women at the centre who are incapable of furthering their education are trained in the use of beads to make rosaries, straps for slippers and necklaces, among other craftwork, for sale. The young men are also taught tailoring.
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Challenges
According to Mr Kwabena, because of its location, the centre is bedevilled with lots of problems, including it getting flooded whenever it rained due to lack of drainage facilities in the area.
In addition, he said since there was no proper waste disposal site in the area, the people who lived there were susceptible to airborne diseases.
He also called for housing in the area to be improved to help curb the rampant fire outbreaks recorded in the area.
Presently, he said, the centre had trained fire volunteers to help in putting out fires in the community.
The wife of the Vice-President, Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur, will on March 11, 2015, launch a book written by Brother Claudio Turina, the proceeds of which would be used to support the centre to help transform it into a more formidable and comfortable learning centre for the disadvantaged.
According to author Brother Claudio, he was motivated to write the book which was about life in the slum because the Agbogbloshie slum was quite different from other slums he had visited.
With a little support, however, he said, the slum could be managed in a way that would benefit the people living there, as well as those around it.
Writer's email-rebecca.quaicoe-duho@graphic.com.gh