MOWAC trains 'kayayees' in soap making

Accra, May 22, GNA- The Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC) has registered about 2,314 "kayayee" - female porters, with the aim of sending the teachable ones to school and the rest to be given training in vocational skills. Also, another 1,200 of them were assisted to register and participate in the National Health Insurance Scheme, educate them on HIV/AIDS and the use of the female condom, said Hajia Alima Mahama, sector Minister. Speaking at an alternative livelihood-training programme for head porters at Mallam Atta market in Accra on Friday, she said MOWAC found it expedient to provide the head porters with the training to empower them and also make them self-reliance. She stated that the empowerment of women to ensure their effective participation in all areas of development and the formulation of policies and programmes to improve upon their standards of living and that of children were paramount to the MOWAC. The Minister said since the beginning of this year, the Ministry had equipped over 150 women porters at the Agbobloshie in Accra and Tema Station markets with skills in liquid and powdered soap detergent preparation. The programme has yielded positive results with many trained girls leaving the streets with entrepreneurial skills in soap making She reiterated the call on the porters to acquire a vocation and also go back to their hometowns after they had gotten enough money to start a business on their own. Aishetu Mamoudu, a head porter, appealed to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to stop collecting revenues from them since they did not earn much. The head porters numbering about 400 were taken through the process of making both liquid and powdered detergents.