Some school dropouts and teenage mothers in the Afram Plains of Ghana have been empowered by the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church (SMMC) with knowledge and skills in dressmaking, jewellery, making of tissue boxes, liquid and powdered soaps, beaded slippers and bags, shampoos and shower gel, conditioners, decorations and Christmas crib.
Mater Ecclesiae Skills Training Centre, a charity-based apostolate at Kwaekese, a town in the Apostolic Vicariate of Donkorkrom in the Kwahu Afram Plains North District of Ghana’s Eastern Region, which started in 2016 with funding support from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in collaboration with the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious Ghana, has become the home of acquiring skills for the young women.
The skills training programme by the SMMC is driven by the belief that empowering women through entrepreneurship can significantly improve household incomes and contribute to community development and that is what the Mater Ecclesiae centre is imbuing in the young ladies who come from far places like Maame Krobo, Ekye Amanfrom, Bluben, Forifori, Adeemra, Asikesu, Amankwakrom, Memchefre, Kwaekese, Atakora, all within the Afram Plains.
The establishment of the centre is to alleviate the poverty and suffering of the growing number of female school dropouts and teenage mothers in the Afram Plains who do not have any skills. It aims to train them to acquire employable skills, enabling them to become self-reliant and take care of their children, whose fathers are also jobless and irresponsible.
The people of Donkorkrom are mainly farmers, fishermen and traders. There is a lot of wood logging and charcoal burning activities going on, turning some of the thick forest areas into almost deserts. For lack of industries and factors, many young people are eager to go to big cities to look for jobs. The rate of school dropouts is still very high.
The vicariate was created as a Prefecture on June 12, 2007, and elevated as a Vicariate on January 19, 2010. The Vicariate is within the Afram Plains covering two Districts, Afram Plains North and South. The area is estimated to have about 80% of the people living below the poverty line.
The total population of the Afram Plains North District, the location of the centre, stands at 173, 208 people according to Ghana’s 2021 population census with a growth rate of 2.1%, an increase over the 2010 population of 102, 423 which is mainly as a result of an increase in net migration and natural increase due to increase in fertility rate especially at Donkorkrom, the District capital.
The people of Donkorkrom are mainly farmers, fishermen and traders. The rate of school dropouts is still very high in that part of Ghana, as hundreds of villages are on several islands. The area is estimated to have about 80% of the people living below the poverty line.
The total unemployed population in Ghana was estimated to reach some 592,000 in 2024, slightly increasing from the preceding year, when around 582,000 people were not in any form of employment.
The purpose of establishing the training centre is to alleviate the poverty and suffering of the growing number of female school dropouts and teenage mothers who do not have any skills. The project aims at training these unfortunate young mothers to acquire employable skills, so as to become self-reliant and also be able to take care of their children, whose fathers are equally jobless and irresponsible.
The initial funding for the building of the structure and the equipment was done by the Conrad Hilton Fund for Sisters. After that, funding was coming only from the sales of the products made and some support that came from the SMMC in the form of sending Sisters to teach the girls.
The centre began as a bakery in 2016 to alleviate the poverty and suffering of the growing number of young women, but in 2021, it was transformed into a dress-making centre. Mary Mother of the Church Sr. Cecilia Clare Kudexa, founding mistress of the centre, told Newswatchgh.com, “When the centre started, we gave skills training in bread making, local soft drinks, and preparation of salads. About 40 to 45 young women now have the same type of skills, which is profitable for them.”
“We began to experience a dwindling number of trainees because almost every young girl in the area had the same skill and sold the same product to a limited business market in the area.”
She said, “The initial funding for the building of the structure and the equipment was done by Conrad Hilton Fund for Sisters. After that, funding was coming only from the sales of the products made and some support from the SMMC in sending Sisters to come and teach the girls.”
“We also train the young women in management skills, as well as social, moral and spiritual guidance,” she said.
Sr. Kudexa, who is a former Superior General of the SMMC congregation and a former mistress, said, “The ladies trained are now able to produce items and sell to generate funds. Some are now able to pay their children’s school fees. Some can give better nutrition to their children.
“The physical appearances of some have also changed,” she added and according to her, “The centre has impacted the community and the young ladies positively. They have a sense of feeling good about themselves because they can work with their hands and get their own money and not rely on anyone completely.”
“Their children are no longer dropping out of school, and this will create an economically strong society in the future,” Sr. Kudexa said.
Christy Numetu Aletevi, 34, a beneficiary of the bakery centre and a mother of four, told Newswatchgh.com that “The bakery skills training I had six years ago, has emboldened me to bake over a hundred breads and prepare local soft drinks to sell to take care of my family’s needs.”
A graduate of the centre in 2018, she said, “Business has been very rewarding and enjoyable, and I give thanks to the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church for the opportunity and for making life easy for me.”
Another 2018 graduate, 39-year-old Rebecca Agboli, who is in the doughnut-baking business, said, “My livelihood has changed as every day I bake and sell over 300 pieces of doughnuts.” A mother of one, Rebecca said, “I didn’t anticipate that the business would boom. For six years now, school children patronise my doughnuts a lot, and it is very encouraging.”
Sr. Kudexa’s hope for the future “is to see the centre expand to include other departments and even grow into a vocational institute where many of the disadvantaged young women in Afram plans can write National Examinations and get employed.”
23-year-old Cecilia Mirekua, a graduate of the centre, who shared her excitement with Newswatchgh.com, said, “I’m proud to be among the first batch of trainees of Mater Ecclesiae Skills Training Centre. I’m thankful to the SMMC Sisters who gave birth to the training centre with the vision of empowering and transforming our lives as teenage mothers, school dropouts and young ladies through skills training.”
She said, “This training has been a blessing to me. After my secondary school, I didn’t know what to do, but when my parish priest at St. Cecilia Parish at Forifori, one of the towns in Afram Plains, announced the centre, I was touched and decided to enrol. Thank God, now, I have the skills and confidence to start something to earn some money to help myself and my family.”
Mirekua, an overall best trainee of the centre said, “Coming here, I thought it was just about sewing but I’ve learnt many things such as using beads to make bag, jewelleries, earrings and also making of soap such as bathing gel, liquid soap, shampoo, alata samina (a local Ghanaian soap), and baby cots.”
Young Cecilia, who was the centre prefect, is currently assisting at the centre after graduation. She said, “Indeed, the foresight and vision of the Sisters has earned me a career today, and I’m very grateful, and I want to use the skills I have acquired to help myself and others.”
On her part, Sr. Francisca Kumevor, mistress of the centre, told Newswatchgh.com “We aim to churn out well-trained young women who can be responsible in managing their life, their children and their homes, by engaging in gainful trading or jobs,” Sr. Francisca said.
She noted, “This training programme is so relevant because looking at the situation of the beneficiaries, the circle of poverty is created around their children and giving them the skills that will help them earn money and become self-reliant, will break that circle of poverty and give a better chance to their children.”
On November 16, 2024, ten of the trainees graduated from the centre after successfully sitting for their National Vocational Technical Institute examinations. At the graduation, the trainees performed several activities including the showcasing of items produced by the trainees in the course of the two-year programme, modelling by the trainees in their individually sewn clothes, the symbolic handing of a measuring tape and a pair of scissors to each of the graduands, as a way of wishing them well in their sewing career.
“You have worked tirelessly with dedication and perseverance to reach this momentous occasion. Today you are graduating from the Mater Ecclesiae Skills Training Centre,” Sr. Francisca Kumevor said at the graduation. “Go and make good use of the machines, together with the skills and knowledge you have acquired. Use them with passion, integrity and creativity. Go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of courage, financial empowerment, beauty, power, dignity and love.”
She reminded them: “You are the author, the architect of your destiny, the changer of the change you wish for yourself. The training of the young women has become a stopgap to bridge the poverty and unemployment gap.”
Despite the successes chalked in giving skills training to vulnerable young women, she said, “The centre is struggling with accommodation, training tools, food and others, all because everything is free, meaning the young girls go through training for two years without paying fees.”
“We have plans of looking for funds to build more dormitories and training centres to at least enrol 30 or 35 ladies at a go,” she indicated and according to her, the centre, which currently houses 20 young women, also suffers shortage of beds and mattresses to accommodate the young women and possible new admissions, since they had to live in the boarding house because of the out-of-town location of the centre.
“We are also in need of sewing machines and accessories to enable us to train more young women. We would be very grateful if people could come on board to help us solve all or any of our challenges, so that young women can benefit.
Nutifafa Agboada, a 19-year-old school dropout who graduated from the centre in 2024, is optimistic that “The skills I have acquired would help me start a decent life.”
“Currently, I sew two or three dresses a day and do liquid soap for sale, a business that would help me support my parents and my young siblings to go to school, she told Newswatchgh.com.”
A first-year trainee, 23-year-old Juliet Tettey, a mother of a two-year-old boy and a Diploma holder in Early Childhood Development from Ghana’s University of Cape Coast, said “The different skills I’m currently acquiring at the centre are a fulfilment of my ambition after Junior High School to venture into dressmaking.”
“But I’m happy I’m under training, which reduces my stress and anxiety, which has been affecting my health due to lack of employment in my area of studies,” she stated, adding, “I am poised to take these skills to higher levels that will inure to the benefit of myself and my family, especially my child.”
Indeed, through the SMMC Sisters, these young ladies, including school dropouts and teenage mothers in the Afram Plains, are being empowered as the centre focuses on the dire needs of vulnerable and needy young mothers, many of whom lack employable skills, hence find it difficult to cater for themselves, their children and families.
By Damian Avevor
