The Founder of the Passion for Mother and Child Training Centre, Alberta Eku-Sika Addo, has called on corporate organisations and individuals who can afford to do so to increase and sustain programmes that empower teenage and vulnerable mothers.
Such support, she said, would not only empower them, but would also help them escape poverty and provide them with a chance to cater for their children adequately.
Mrs Addo was speaking at an event to welcome new trainees to a training setup that provides vocational and life skills to teenage mothers, single mothers, and other vulnerable women.
Mrs Addo warned that without sustained funding, hundreds of young mothers risk remaining trapped in poverty and street life.
She explained that many skills training centres for teenage mothers across Ghana were struggling with severe financial constraints and the lack of consistent investment was forcing many young mothers into hawking and other unstable jobs that undermined their chances of achieving long-term economic independence.
“Most of these centres depend largely on donations from individuals and limited organisational support, which places enormous strain on our work,” she noted.
Training for self-reliance
The Passion for Mother and Child Training Centre, located at Klagon in Accra, offers free training in dressmaking, hairdressing, cosmetology, and catering.
Trainees are recruited through community outreach and referrals, with graduates often encouraging others from similar backgrounds to join.
Though it has trained so many vulnerable women who have graduated, with some having started their own businesses and secured jobs, the centre continues to struggle with attracting and retaining trainees.
Mrs Addo said that because the centre was unable to provide any further financial support for the trainees, many teenage mothers who enrolled opted out later, as they preferred quick-income activities such as hawking and petty trading, which helped cater for their immediate financial needs, over long-term skills training.
“Most of them are concerned about how they are going to cater for their children, and see the daily earnings from the hawking as an immediate solution.
“We constantly counsel them to understand that the skills they acquire here will sustain them in the long-term,” she said.
“If we had the means, we would have provided a stipend, but that is not possible now.
We meet them halfway by providing childcare support through a crèche, allowing young mothers and those with younger children to attend classes while their children are safely cared for.”
Appeal
Mrs Addo said funding shortages and a lack of equipment remained the centre’s biggest challenges and has, therefore, appealed for donations of sewing machines, catering tools, hairdressing accessories and financial support.
She also called for volunteers to sign up to teach additional skills to broaden opportunities for the women.
