80 women benefit from vocational training
The lives of many young ladies in and around Ajumako Baa in the Ajumako Enyan Essiam District are becoming more purposeful.
For many of them, the previously held mindset of being a girlfriend and being fed from the pocket of a man has changed.
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Now more than before, the ladies believe they can work hard, earn a living and support their future families and not become a burden.
The outlook of the young ladies has been changed after receiving support for employable skills provided by the Ajumako Baa Salvation Army Polyclinic.
Apart from providing the health care needs of the people of Ajumako Baa and its surrounding communities, the polyclinic has been committed to training the young women in its operational area with employable skills.
So far, the facility has supported the training of about 80 young women in four batches, in vocational skills over the past few years.
This, it has done through the enrolment of the young women in vocational training, particularly in sewing and ensuring they stayed and completed their training.
Recently, the fourth batch of students of the polyclinic’s vocational training programme graduated after 18 months of training in sewing and the occasion was also used to induct the 5th batch of 20 trainees.
Beneficiaries
Expressing optimism on what she hoped to achieve after her training, a trainee in the 5th batch, Ms Margaret Botchway, said she was positive that the programme would be life changing.
"I look at my mates who have given birth around without any source of income struggling to make ends meet and it makes me sad. If you have an income, you become a better wife and you are able to support your family better," she stated.
Ms Ruth Eduful, another newly enrolled trainee said she was happy with the opportunity given her to make a living. "When you don't have a purpose in life you are vulnerable. Anybody can take advantage of you," she noted.
Excited at being enrolled in the programme, Ms Jennifer Baidoo also said "many of my friends who haven't acquired skills yet are married with kids and are struggling to make ends meet. I won't be one of such."
Ms Paulina Enchill, another beneficiary said she was grateful for the support, adding, "I can earn enough to take good care of myself and family."
The problem
The administrator of the facility, Mr Samuel Abaidoo, explained that the facility was committed to bettering the lives of the people in the communities the hospital served.
He indicated that it was apparent that many of the young women in the communities they served were not skilled and that led to a lot of problems that eventually worsened efforts at ensuring enhanced and healthy lifestyles for the people.
"The young ladies were getting pregnant because they were ready to have sex with the men to get by. We saw a lot of teenage pregnancies and this was worrying to us.
Eventually, because these mothers were not working, they could not also adequately cater for the children leading to child malnutrition and other health issues. We decided to do something about the situation," he explained.
Mr Abaidoo explained that the facility started as a charity organisation and most of their services were free of charge.
However, he said, it had been difficult sustaining the free service and because of that not much investment was made in infrastructure development.
It began with ten staff but currently has 77 staff providing services in general outpatient department, maternity services and adolescent health reproductive services among others.
Challenges
Addressing the graduation, Mr Abaidoo said the polyclinic needed a well-equipped theatre as the current theatre was not well-equipped to make it a functioning theatre where minor surgeries could be undertaken.
Appealing for assistance from benevolent individuals and organisations he said, “We don’t have a single bed for children so the children are using adult beds at the children’s ward.
He said the facility could do a lot more if given the needed support with the right equipment and infrastructure, and added that staff accommodation was also a problem and that the midwives' quarters, for instance, was in a deplorable state.
He also appealed for an ambulance to support the facility’s emergency services and called on the district assembly to honour its promise to support them with some roofing sheets.
The Minister-in-charge of the Salvation Army Church in the area, Col. Samuel Amponsah, urged the graduating students not to be complacent but work hard to better their lives.
He further advised them to be creative and innovative and adopt a business sense to help them excel in what they did.
Social welfare
The Social Welfare Officer for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, Mrs Abena Serwah Opare, commended the polyclinic's management for the gesture saying the beneficiaries of the vocational training would impact their families and communities positively.
She advised them to be honest in their work to attract the needed clients.
Some newly inducted trainees
