Foundation trains 70 widows, youths on skills acquisition in Lagos

A Non-Governmental Organisation, Healing Heart Foundation, has started training of not fewer than 70 widows and youths, in skills acquisition to enhance their earnings and living standard.Mrs Sophy Mbanisi, Founder of Healing Heart Foundation, made this disclosure in Lagos, on Wednesday, at the opening of a 4-Day Fun-filled Skills Acquisition programme organised by the Foundation, in collaboration with Victory Holy Ghost Mission.

The training was tagged: “Women and Youths Economic Empowerment for Development and Sustainability (WEEDS).

Mbanisi said that the NGO on yearly basis, through its programmes, matches its commitments with actions, as the NGO resumes its annual training for the widows; through which it empowers them with different skills to earn and sustain livelihood.

She said that many widows have been trained in the previous years; which resulted to great testimonies; as some of them have started-up some petty business outfits, through which they put food on their tables.
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According to her, the age bracket of 15 to 45 years is carefully selected for this year’s training because that was the age bracket considered to have the articulation needed for the training.

“Though no training was held in 2020 due to COVID-19 Pandemic, the previous years’ trainings have yielded positive results.

“The training is usually for widows, but because we felt that it will equally be beneficial to the young ones; so, we decided to include the youths.

“The 4-Day training is specifically packaged to train both the widows and the youths on different skills acquisition, ranging from how to make batiks on jeans, cakes and snacks, gele tying and make over, pastries and small chops.

“Others in the training schedule are; Basics in Computer Technology, Digital marketing, hair weaving and wig making, video coverage and photography.

“The impact of this project/training is tremendous because it is a way of contributing to the development of Nigeria economically,” Sophy said.

In his remarks, Mr Chima Iheanachor, a pastor and facilitator to the programme, urged the participants to keep getting more trainings and business ideas, to succeed in life.

Iheanachor said that the training would touch many lives by training them on building capacity and businesses, to grow economic involvement and entrepreneurial acumen.

He advised the trainees to remain focused on their business ideas and opportunities, because every idea was worth developing.

“We are expecting the participants to get into the business world and make use of what they were taught.

“The participants should also keep getting more trainings and business ideas in order to improve their earnings because there are no more paid-jobs out there,” he said.

Mrs Eucharia Okereke, a widow and beneficiary of the training, said that the training had afforded her opportunity to learn the skills which she had been longing to learn for years.

Okereke identified lack of fund as the major challenge that prevents most widows from going into development of some of the skills they acquired through programmes of this kind.

She, therefore, urged the governments, philanthropists and well-meaning Nigerians to do more, to put joy on the faces of the widows by providing them with grants, materials, or funds to start-up businesses.