The Africa Centre for Human Rights and Sustainable Development (AfCHuRSD) has presented sewing machines and weaving kits to six girls in the weaving and sewing department of the Wa School for the Deaf (Wa Deaf).
They included three sewing machines and three weaving machines.
Mr David Gaanye, the Upper West Regional Coordinator of AfCHuRSD, handed over the machines to the school on behalf of Madam Bernice Naah, the Executive Director of AfCHuRSD.
The items were received by the school authorities, led by the Headmaster, Mr Andreas Kormle Gbormekor, for onward presentation to the beneficiary school children.
The intervention formed part of the ‘Promoting Equal Rights for Women and Girls with Disabilities in Ghana (PERD)’ project, sponsored by the Netherlands Embassy in Ghana.
It was jointly implemented by a three-member consortium-AfCHuRSD, Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) and Women in Need (WIN).
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during the handing-over ceremony in Wa, Mr Gaanye said t
he machines were meant for the children to work with at home when they complete their training in the school to enable them make ends meet.
Similar support was provided to the vocational skills department of the Wa Methodist School for the Blind with the provision of camp bed frames and nylon lopes to ten girls.
The Schools for the Blind and Deaf were also provided with showrooms where their wares would be showcased to prospective buyers.
Mr Gaanye said they had also presented similar support to some women PWDs in the Nadowli-Kaleo District.
‘All these are in connection with the fact that we want these vulnerable women and girls in these schools and the entire community to feel at home and to be part of society,’ he indicated.
Mr Gaanye explained that some people looked down upon PWDs in society hence the gesture was to make the beneficiaries, who were the most vulnerable segment of society, live a comfortable life.
He said AfCHuRSD had been working with PWDs in the Jirapa and Wa Municipalities and Nado
wli-Kaleo District in the Upper West Region and Sanarigu in the Northern Region over the last three years to empower and support them to achieve a decent livelihood through entrepreneurship.
He advised the girls against engaging in acts including amorous relationships with men in the school and at home as that could jeopardise their lives.
Mr Andreas Kormle Gbormekor, the Headmaster of Wa Death, thanked the NGO for the support and expressed hope that it would positively impact the lives of the beneficiary children after school.
He said it would keep them busy after leaving school or during vacations and they would earn a living from it.
Madam Claudia Kyiileyang Viiru, the Head of the Vocational Skills Department of the school, expressed gratitude to AfCHuRSD for the support to the girls and advised the beneficiaries to make good use of the machines to reap the maximum benefits from them.
She also appealed for support to the male students in her department with the provision of sewing and weaving machines
to enable them to earn a living after school.
Source: Ghana News Agency