Street Children Project supports eight young women in Kumasi

The Street Children Project of the Kumasi Archdiocese of the Catholic Church has presented  working tools estimated at GH¢24,000 to eight young women who were living on the streets in the Kumasi Metropolis, at a special ceremony in Kumasi.

The beneficiaries, who have completed two years of training in dressmaking and hairdressing, were presented with sewing machines, knitting machines, pressing irons, scissors, electric sewing machines, hair dryers and other accessories to enable them to start their jobs so they can be economically empowered to avoid going back to the streets where they were picked from some years ago.

Making the presentation, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Kumasi, Most Rev. Gabriel Justice Yaw Anokye, said the Catholic Church would continue to complement government’s efforts at creating jobs for the people in the society.

He said the church did not only believe in the spiritual development of its members and society in general but the holistic development of the individual so that the country would benefit from their services as well.

The Project

The Kumasi Archdiocese of the Catholic Church in 2005 established the Street Children Project which was aimed at mobilising and assisting some street children from around the country and training them to stay away from the street.

Since its inception, the project has trained more than 150 girls and young women in dressmaking, hairdressing and other skills to improve their lives in order to stay off the street.

Some of the girls were picked as sex workers or female porters (kayayei) from the streets in the various cities, regional and district capitals across the country.

The Street Children Project has led to the establishment of St Louise Vocational Training Centre at Appiadu which will be training the girls to make them self-employed.

The presentation ceremony also coincided with the official opening of the St Louise Vocational Training Centre at Appiadu.

Commendation

The Deputy Director in charge of Child Right Promotion and Protection at the Department of Social Welfare in the Kumasi Metropolis, Mrs Patricia Kyeremateng, commended the Street Children Project and the Catholic Church for their support to the needy in the society.

She urged all stakeholders to collaborate with the government to ensure proper training and upbringing of children for their betterment.

The Headmistress of the St Louise Vocational Training Centre, Rev. Sister Olivia Umoh, lamented the increase in irresponsibility among some parents which had led to many girls making the streets their home and pointed out that the school would be working very hard to train at least 60 street children every year.