Some 30 women in three communities in the Wa Municipality have received entrepreneurship skills training on soap making to enable them to earn a livelihood to enhance their economic conditions.
The beneficiaries from Kperisi, Sing and Biihe communities, who included widows, young women and school dropout girls were also given start-up kits for businesses in those ventures after the training.
The initiative by the Rotary Club of Wa under its “Empower Me” project with funding from the District Rotary Foundation grant saw the women trained in liquid and soda soaps (azuma blose) making.
Speaking during the training at Biihe, Mr Jonathan Kwofie, the Service Project Director of the Rotary Club of Wa, said it was part of the quest of the Club to impact the lives of the vulnerable people in the communities.
He said the Rotary Club was working with the theme: “Creating Hope around the World” for the 2023/2024 Rotary year and indicated that the skills training was one of the initiatives to create hope among the people in the communities.
Mr Kwofie explained that the Club would solicit funding support for the women who would exhibit much interest in sustaining their businesses to sustain and scale up.
Mr Agambire Inusah Alhassan, the President of the Rotary Club of Wa, expressed happiness for the success of the training and thanked the district 9104 Grant Committee for approving the project and subsequently making funds available for implementation.
He said that was in fulfilment of one of the focus areas of the Club in growing local economies by creating opportunities for women empowerment.
“Many of these initiatives will continue in our bid in creating hope in the world”, Mr Alhassan added.
Madam Vivian Danuor, a facilitator of the training, said soap was a household commodity used by every person in society daily and that acquiring the skills in soap making, producing, and selling them would prove useful to the economic empowerment of the women.
“As individuals, in our homes, in our offices and everywhere you go, we use it for multipurpose that is why we chose soap making to support the women.
Madam Danuor said they would monitor the activities of the women regularly over a period to see how the start-up kits were being managed before they could offer any other support to them.
Madam Maria Johana Yuorpor, also a facilitator, said the women exhibited great zeal and interest in the training and expressed hope that they would make use of the skills they had acquired.
“There are women who are interested in what we are doing, and they are asking questions, which means they want to know what it is about.
“The questions they are asking indicate that they want to use it for economic ventures not just to do it for their family use only,” Madam Yuorpor, the founder of Mara Closet, explained.
Some of the beneficiaries, who spoke to the GNA thanked the Rotary Club of Wa for the initiative, would serve as a source of income.
“I did not know anything about soap making but today I have learnt, and I know it will help me to get money and feed my children and support their education”, Madam Sakina Zakaria said.
