Twenty-Five Consecrated Men and Women who are members of “Talitha Kum Network” working in Ghana, Nigeria and Burkina Faso are currently in the West African country of Ghana participating in a workshop aimed at stopping human trafficking in the sub-region.
Talitha Kum is an International Network of Consecrated Life Against Trafficking in Persons, working as a network to facilitate collaboration and interchange of information between consecrated men and women in 94 countries.
The four-day Workshop currently under way at the School Sisters of Notre Dame Provincial House at Mayera in Accra is the first of its kind.
Focusing on how the members can collaborate and network, Management of Diversity and Conflict as well as bring them together to fight the menace of human trafficking, the Workshop ends on Saturday, June 5, 2021.
The Workshop on human trafficking currently taking place in Ghana, is also to sensitise and conscience the Consecrated Men and Women into the fight of Human trafficking on how to deal with human trafficking through effective networking. The workshop is to strengthen collaboration and networking among members of the network from the three West African countries
Sr. Olivia Umoh, DC, Director of Save Child-Advocacy (SCA) based in Kumasi told newswatchgh.com at the Workshop on June 3 that it also seeks to raise awareness on the menace of trafficking of persons and how it is destroying human lives.
According to her, “I expect that at the end of the Workshop, the participants from the West African Region of Ghana, Nigeria and Burkina Faso Region will see the need to effectively collaborate through networking and communication.”
As part of the Workshop, there were presentations on the Overview of Human Trafficking by Sr. Monica Onwunalli, OLA; The Biblical Injections and the Stance of the Catholic Church on Human Trafficking by Fr. Richard Acheampong, CSSp, Co-ordinator of the Justice, Peace, Integrity Creation of the Spiritan Congregation in Ghana; Unveiling the Reality of Human Trafficking in Ghana, Nigeria and Burkina Faso by Fr. Cornelius Apili, SJ.
In her presentation on “Collaboration and Networking”, Sr. Philomena Okwu of the Daughters of Charity (DC) told the participants that networking results in long lasting professional relationships and helps build brand.
“Having a brand is what makes you stand out from the competition, attracts clients and get noticed,” she stated, adding “as you start networking, you start discovering different facets of your brand that connect with people.”
According to Sr. Okwu who is the Coordinator of the Committee for the Support of the Dignity of Women (COSUDOW) in Nigeria, through networking, the Talitha Kum members can develop a sense of comradeship, worthiness of purpose by connecting with individuals who share in the same passion.
“Networking helps you craft your story to use in your daily communication and social channels,” she added.
Present to encourage the participants was Sr. Mercy Boateng, SSL, Provincial Superior of the Sisters of St. Louis (SSL) and President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana who commended them for their passion for the fight against human trafficking.
She urged them to share the knowledge they have acquired with other Religious in their various Congregations to help combat the menace, saying that the Religious especially Women have the power to clampdown human trafficking which is an inclusive task.
With the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious – Ghana made up of both men and women leaders of the Catholic Religious Congregations in Ghana, the participants appealed to their Superiors to empower more religious into the area of human trafficking.
Sharing her experience so far at the Workshop with Newswatcgh.com, Sr. Justina Suekime Nelson of the Religious Sisters of Charity (RSC) in Nigeria, said her Congregation is committed to the abolition of Trafficking in persons and care of the earth, hence, participating in the Workshop will enhance collaboration and networking.
At the end of the Workshop, an action plan is expected to be issued which will spell out strategies for collaboration and networking in the fight against Human Trafficking in the West African sub-region and beyond.
