The Queen mother of Wassa Fiase in the Western Region, through her Foundation, Nana Abena Kunadjoa II Foundation, has partnered Gold Fields Ghana to train forty women to make liquid soap, hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol to support their families.
The women were selected from the nine host communities of Goldfields Damang Mine in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality.
It was on the theme: “Empowering Women with Skills for Better Living”.
The Nana Abena Kunadjoa said the Foundation was established two years ago and had since been supporting orphans and the aged.
She told the Ghana News Agency that apart from organizing workshops for queen mothers and women group leaders, she had decided to help train women and the youth to create employment for them.
She said the training would be extended to the nine catchment communities under the Wassa Fiase Traditional Area and participants would be taken through branding and marketing of their products.
Nana Abena Kunadjoa said: “Our trainees learn many things and they will have the opportunity at the annual queenmothers workshop to exhibit whatever they were taught and how best they have been able to implement it.”
She expressed gratitude to Gold Fields Ghana Foundation Damang Mine for funding the training to ensure that the unemployment rate among women within the Wassa Fiase Traditional Area was reduced.
She appealed to individuals and institutions to support her Foundation to help it train more women.
Mr Abdel-Razak Yakubu, the Community Affairs Manager of Goldfields Damang Mine, said the training was one of the pillars of Gold Fields Ghana Foundation, “which ties in perfectly with what we stands for.”
He commended the trainees for the commitment and advised them to attach seriousness to what they were being taught.
Mr Yakubu said three of the participants who would excel at the end of the training would be supported by the company.
“We would have a discussion with participants who deem it fit to pursue this training as a career and draw comprehensive programme with them so they can undergo further training.”
“This would help them set up their own small businesses in the host communities of the mine.”
The trainees commended Nana Abena Kunadjoa and Gold Fields Ghana Foundation Damang Mine for the skills and pledged to use them to generate income to support their families.