From 16 to 19 April, Acting for Life’s (AFL) Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) team travelled to Tamale in northern Ghana. There, they met young trainees supported by the PARCS project – Projet d’Appui au Renforcement de la Cohésion Sociale au niveau de territoires transfrontaliers stratégiques (Support Project for Strengthening Social Cohesion in Strategic Cross-Border Territories) – who are learning a new trade. The team was accompanied by Osman Abdel-Rahman, Executive Director of our local partner GDCA (Ghana Developing Communities Association), Abdul-Hafiz Yussif, projects Officer, and Leonard Yelyuonoba, training Assistant. During this visit, AFL met with the young trainees to discuss training and work opportunities in the market gardening, beekeeping, electricity and plumbing fields.
As part of the PARCS project in Ghana, 120 young people have already been trained. 60 of them have completed or are about to complete their training and 60 others are apprentices. By the end of the project, 120 young people will be trained again. During this mission, the teams visited the regional authorities in charge of Technical and Vocational Education and Training, in Tamale.
Market gardening, a source of prospects for young people
This visit was followed by a meeting with eight young people and their apprenticeship supervisor. During the meeting, they discussed their market gardening training and the garden in which they work. Although conditions are made difficult by the drought and heat of Northern Ghana, an area close to the Sahel, it emerged that this activity is particularly popular with young women.
To facilitate market gardening in this area, a motor-driven pump connected to a water table located near the garden is used to water the plantations. It turns out that producing vegetables in the dry season generates better selling prices, as there is less competition than during the rainy season. The vegetables are sold directly on site or on the market. Each trainee has his or her own plot of land and contributes to the activities: weeding, watering, planting, etc.
Discovering beekeeping courses
A few kilometres away, the Acting for Life and GDCA teams then joined two young beekeepers in a teak forest made available to them by the forestry authorities. The presence of bees is appreciated in the area, as they are beneficial to the environment. The teams, dressed in protective overalls, took part in the harvesting of honey-filled cells with the young learners. It turns out that honey is highly prized in northern Ghana, particularly for its therapeutic properties. So the two trainees and their fellow students have nothing to worry about: demand is currently outstripping supply!
Young electricians on their way to autonomy!
The trip was also an opportunity to meet young electricians and their apprenticeship supervisors. Passionate about their new profession, these young people benefit from regular work opportunities. By the end of May 2024, they will be fully autonomous. When asked about this next step, the young apprentices say they are confident. Indeed, this training has enabled them to develop a substantial network of contacts. Moreover, their ambition is to continue working together. Finally, the shortage of electricians in the region offers them regular work opportunities.
Plumbing, a growth sector with many opportunities
On Wednesday 17 April, the Acting for Life team visited Tamale University. On site, eight young plumbers were completing the sanitary installations for student accommodation. Showers, toilets, washbasins, pipes and drains: a complete apprenticeship, supervised by a master apprentice, who passes on all his know-how to the young people. Furthermore, there are so many job opportunities that some of them are planning to travel to Togo. They will be accompanying their master apprentice to a worksite in the near future in the country bordering Ghana.
Before the PARCS project was implemented, most of these young people were not working or had dropped out of school. Today, thanks to their work, these young men and women are starting to build projects. Their involvement in the community and their confidence in themselves and in the future are increasing constantly. Some of them are already generating sufficient income. Acting for Life wishes them all the best!
This training has been made possible thanks to the financial support of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Air France. NEXANS Kabelmetal Ghana Ltd has also provided equipment for electrical training.
© Pictures : GDCA
