By Karifa Kello Thoronka
Despite the growing popularity of Vocational training in Sierra Leone, there is little empirical evidence on the effectiveness of teaching soft skills and vocational skills as Daughters of Sierra Leone has proven to be in previous years.
Daughters of Sierra Leone, a non-Governmental organization has been in existence for over three years and has been helping to improve the lives of many young Sierra Leoneans through skills acquisition program and trade. To continue the good work, Daughters of Sierra Leone, has trained and certified over two hundred young Sierra Leoneans at the Aberdeen Community Center in Aberdeen. The two days intensive training, which started on the 15th October ended on the 16th of October 2021.
In an exclusive zoom interview with the Chief Executive Officer and founder, of Daughters of Sierra Leone (DOSL), Madam Ritta Felleh Arah, a Sierra Leonean based in the United States of America, she responded by stating that she thought it fit to bring development, through skills training program, to Sierra Leone and some Africa Countries in order to enhance employment prospects by giving youths better skills and confidence whiles looking for jobs for them to make them more productive in their communities.
She continued by saying that their ultimate goal and agenda is for the empowerment of women in society who make sacrifices in societies to provide stability for themselves, their families and communities. She, however, admonished that the essence of the training is for women to be skilled in different areas like, gara tie dying, makeup, bridal fan, Ankara designs and some other important courses. She said Sierra Leonean women must be ready to take over the journey of development as Sierra Leone is a great country.
While addressing the participants during the program, the Country Coordinator, Mahawa Ibilola Kallon, maintained that empowering women to participate fully in economic livelihood activities across all sectors is essential to build stronger economies, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for women and youths in general.
She revealed how the organization has poured a huge sum of money to ensure women are empowered but said that excuse should not limit someone to grow.
One of the beneficiaries of the training, Abibatu Thoronka expressed her appreciation to DOSL for the impact the organization has created on her life and promised to put the knowledge acquired into practice. She is anticipating for more of such training and promised to pass on the skills to others in her community.
The training was climaxed with distribution of Certificates to the participants.
