NGO OFFERS SUPPORT TO 31 ARTISANS (PAGE 40)

THIRTY-ONE artisans in the Upper East Region have been presented with tool kits worth GH¢38,000. Trax Ghana, a Bolgatanga-based non-governmental organisation, (NGO) in partnership with Tools for Self Reliance (TFSR), a UK-based charity organisation, donated the items to equip the beneficiaries with skills to make them self-reliant and to enhance their production capabilities towards income generation. Making the presentation at a ceremony at Bolgatanga, the Director of Trax Ghana, Mr Vincent Subbey, said in 2006, his outfit entered into partnership with the UK-based charity organisation to provide employable skills for young people in deprived rural communities. The aim, he said, was to encourage positive life choices and reduce the incidence of anti-social behaviours in the communities. According to him, the two organisations embarked on a project dubbed “Sustainable Agriculture Tools Initiative for Rural Communities”, to revive and expand blacksmithing at the grass-roots level to produce, repair and maintain agricultural tools. Mr Subbey said the pilot project identified four metal smiths, who received training and tool kits from FRS through Trax Ghana, adding that the beneficiaries also trained eight apprentices, who were currently producing agricultural tools in response to market demands. "The response to their products has been very positive and farmers are pleased with the quality of the local products," he said. According to Mr Subbey, since 2007, the project had been expanded to cover artisans such as masons, carpenters, seamstresses, auto mechanics, appliance repairers, cobblers, bicycle repairers and metal smiths, hence the presentation of the items. He called on the beneficiaries to utilise the skills they had acquired into productive use by working hard to improve upon their livelihoods and the local economy by recruiting more apprentices. The Co-ordinating Director of the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly, Mr P.K. Kupaul, and the Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare, Mr Christopher Babooroh, commended Trax Ghana for its initiative, which would go a long way to give hope to the youth. A beneficiary, Mr David Amoa, on behalf of his colleagues, thanked Trax for its efforts aimed at addressing the needs of the youth in the region.