PWDs receive employment opportunity

A project to create employment and livelihood opportunities for the vulnerable such as people living with disabilities (PWDs), women and children, has been unveiled in Accra.

Named the "Thankful Hearts Project," it will entail the training of selected persons in mosaic artworks, in partnership with some individuals, corporate bodies and government stakeholders, after which jobs and projects would be secured for the beneficiaries.

An initiative of Fotco Ventures Ltd., the local representative for Den Braven Sealants, The Netherlands, which is also facilitating it in partnership with Wilma Van Der Meyden a renowned Artist from The Netherlands and Monica Kunkeler, also a Mosaic Arts expert from The Netherlands, the jobs to be secured will entail company logos and mosaic artworks on objects, on the walls of both new and existing buildings; as well as windows and doors.

The project is structured to be self-sustaining, with the proceeds from the jobs used to pay the income of beneficiaries and to further expand the project so that more people can also be signed onto it.

Motivation

Speaking to what motivated the “Thankful Hearts” project at its launch last week Wednesday, October 17, the Project Coordinator and CEO of Fotco Ventures Ltd, Mrs Adodo Adih-Nuviadenu, said she was inspired to embark on the project after participating in the “garden wall mosaic project” a community project by the Scottish church in Rotterdam, when she had the opportunity to further her studies in The Netherlands.

Mrs Adih-Nuviadenu who considers charity a lifestyle said after participating in the project it occurred to her that “back home in Ghana, this could be a good opportunity for persons with disabilities and hence it will be a good initiative to begin a project of this nature.”

She indicated that the project will form part of the corporate social responsibility of Fotco Ventures, Representative for Den Braven Sealants, The Netherlands, for Ghana & West Africa and the pilot phase will involve persons with disabilities as beneficiaries.

“The ‘Thankful Hearts project’ will require the support of more individuals and groups to make it a success. It is a major social problem and an injustice that the less privileged and vulnerable people in society do not have many opportunities and platforms available to them to make a decent livelihood.

“We want to contribute our little quota to the society by helping to improve the lives of these individuals. This project will go a long way to create employment and help in reducing the number of individuals begging on major streets in the country,” she said.
Support

The wife of the Australian Ambassador to Ghana Mrs Teresa Barnes who was at the unveiling promised to assist in the noble initiative by getting whatever the PWDs worked on onto the market through her contacts, either through direct selling or through exhibitions to raise funds.

She said “this is a very good employment initiative that needs all the support to work so it can employ most of the PWDs.”

Mrs Adih-Nuviadenu said the Institute of Architects had also decided to partner with Thankful Hearts by encouraging members to incorporate mosaic art into their designs by way of spaces to make the employment initiative for PWDs successful.

Present at the unveiling were members of the Ghana Institute of Architects and Architects Registration Council.

Wife of the Australian Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Teresa Barnes speaking at the unveiling of Thankful Hearts.

Mrs Adodo Adih-Nuviadenu, the Thankful Hearts Project Coordinator and CEO of Fotco Ventures Ltd speaking to the media.

Ms Wilma Camden Meyden addressing the gathering at the launch of the project

Some guests at the unveiling programme.