At least 50 indigent women in Kungabukon community in Bwari Area Council of Abuja Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, have benefited from a vocational training and empowerment programme put together by the Rotary Club of Abuja Kubwa District.
The training which held weekend at the LEA Primary School, Kungabukon was part of the Vocational Training, Economic Empowerment and Development Initiative of the club for indigent women and girls in the neglected community which had been adopted for diverse intervention five years ago.
Beneficiaries, numbering over 50 were trained how to produce Izal, detol, air freshner, hypo, liquid soap, small chops like samosa, spring roll, puff-puff as well as recharge card printing business and gele tying.
Humanity Watch reports that the beneficiaries each smiled home happily after the training as they were handed certificates, start-up kits and capital to establish small businesses in the respective areas of their choices.
Mostly women who were full-time house-wives, beneficiaries were empowered to set-up small businesses to support their families as the club equally commissioned the reconstructed abandoned four-room toilet in the LEA Primary School in the community.
Earlier in her remark during the opening ceremony to kick-start the events, the President, Rotary Club of Abuja Kubwa District, Rotn Lovina Okorn-Ntui-PHF told the gathering that Rotary Club of Abuja Kubwa took the initiative to reconstruct the four-room toilet comprising two arms of four toilets, two each for female and male, to put an end in the unwholesome practice of open defecation.
“When we first visited this place, we saw that in this community there was no toilet. What is commonly practiced here is open defecation and open defecation as we all know is not healthy for us. As you defecate in the open, flies perch on it and bring back the bacteria into your home by perching on your food and getting them contaminated,” she said
She said the reconstructed toilet will give the pupils, teachers and especially adolescent girls and female teachers, a better environment and adequate privacy to go to toilet, change their sanitary wears, conveniently go back to their classes and pay attention.
Okorn-Ntui-PHF noted that the vocational training programmes brought to the community will help to empower the indigent women to support their families financially.
Speaking in a separate interview with journalists on the criteria for selection of the community for the intervention, the president of the club explained that the community happens to be a neglected community which no government presence.
“We lookout for the indigents communities, the poorest of the poor so that is why we are here. We don’t look for people who have, we look for people that don’t have. When we got here there was no government presence in this community that is why we picked this community.”
She said the community was adopted by the club five years ago, adding, the club had since then, offered a lot of interventions to the community most recent of which includes the revamping of the abandoned health centre, medical outreaches during which there were free medical tests, distribution of free eye-glasses, hepatitis test and vaccination among others.
“The whole essence of this empowerment is to alleviate poverty, to impact in their lives. We have empowered them today to be helpful to their husbands by contributing to the livelihood of their families. Whatever they will be able to make out of their little start-ups and businesses they are going to establish, it will help them to generate incomes to support their husbands and at least their children that are going to school and also cater for themselves as women,” Rotn Okorn-Ntui-PHF said.
A beneficiary of the gele tying training tries out the skills acquired during the event while the resource person(on sky blue ankara supervises.
Rotn Okorn-Ntui-PHF further explained that: “Participants had indicated interest in a particular product but we did a general training for each categories. As you saw us issuing certificates earlier, we have over 50 certified trainees and 11 empowered for liquid soap making and then we gave little start-up capital to 20 others for air fresher, detol, Izal, in their chosen area that they need to start-up on. But for those that indicated interests before our arrival today we bought chemicals for them because the chemicals are hard to come by.”
The event also featured establishment and training of the Rotary Community Corps to help the club oversee all its past projects executed in the community as well as erecting of the peace pillar in the community for harmonious living among the various ethnic groups in the community by Rotn Pietro Uzochukwu Macleo.
The Rotary Community Corps which comprises the community chief, head teacher, women leader, youth leader, the head of the clinic and other 6 members of the community was constituted to oversee the projects implemented by the club for sustainability.
Beneficiaries of the vocational training, economic empowerment and development programme organised for indigent women and girls in Kungabukon community in Bwari Area Council, Abuja on Saturday by Rotary Club of Abuja Kubwa, during the training on samosa, spring roll and other snacks.
Members of the corps were trained to know their roles and responsibilities and what is expected of them.
“We have registered them with Rotary international to recognize them and trained them on security tips in the face of the security challenges facing the country, to know how we can guide ourselves against foreign infiltration of people who can harm us and kidnap our children,” she emphasized.
While assuring that with the rotary community corps in place, beneficiaries would be monitored, the president of the club affirmed that she would personally call and follow up to ensure the resources are put into to the intended use.
She said rotary club and the government cannot do it all alone and therefore implore all well-meaning Nigerians to complement the efforts of the club by assisting the community to meet other pressing needs as there is still a lot to be done.
Meanwhile, the beneficiaries of the vocational training and empowerment have expressed their appreciations for the kind gesture which they testified will improve their living condition greatly.
Mrs Tuna Moses who was into petty farming to support her family, said the training and assistance received, will help her to diversify her income base.
“I feel very happy today because of everything we have learnt here today and the cash and materials given us to go back and start a business of our own. I will use what I have received to start my own business to support my family more,” said the mother of two.
Another beneficiary, Godiya Barnabas an NCE graduate said she had no job before now and had desired to attend a catering training but had no money.
She appreciated the club for the training she received, saying, with the encouragement received, she would be able to start up something small and nurture it grow.
The village Chief, Ishaya Jagaba also appreciated the efforts made to ameliorate the suffering of his community.
He said the toilet which had been abandoned for years because of its deplorable state would be maintained properly to serve the people for a long period of time.
Credit: Report compiled by Josephine Ejeh
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