GRCS assesses impact of STAGE project on beneficiaries

The Central Regional Office of the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) has expressed satisfaction with the outcome of its Strategic Approaches to Girls' Education (STAGE) project after touring some selected communities to assess its impact on beneficiaries.

With the theme: “Leave No Girl Behind,” the project focuses on involving marginalised girls between 15-19 years in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality and other districts in the region to gain from both accelerated learning programmes and vocational skills training from three to six months.

It was initiated in collaboration with the World Education Incorporation and funded by the UKAID. It has over 600 beneficiaries in 20 communities in groups of 25 each.

The girls are being trained in beads making, hairdressing, catering, soap making, decoration, life skills, basic literacy, and numeracy among other things.

Mr John Ekow Aidoo, the Regional Manager of GRCS, said the project was to support deprived communities to boost livelihoods and eventually help eradicate poverty.

He hinted that the current batch of beneficiaries would complete in September, this year, to pave the way for others in the Twifo Atimorkwa [E1] and Hemang-Lower-Denkyira areas to equally benefit from the project.

“Overall, majority of the girls are doing very well and have cooperated fully with their facilitators, supervisors and their master craft trainers and we hope this would continue till the very end,” he added.

Mr Aidoo thanked his team and all other partners for working tirelessly to improve on the status of the beneficiaries with rippling effects on their communities.

Mr Daniel Mensah, the Monitoring and Evaluation officer of the GRCS, said the project was to give hope to girls who had no formal education to improve their lives and provide them with a source of income.

That, he said, would make the society know how useful every person could be if given the opportunity.

On safety, Miss Dora Ewusi, the Safeguarding Officer of the GRCS, provided free personal protective equipment to the girls, facilitators, supervisors and master craftsmen to help fight the novel coronavirus.

Mrs Priscilla Ansah, a Hairdressing Trainer, said the level of cooperation was encouraging and urged the girls to focus on their training to pass out successfully to support themselves and other dependents.

Miss Sarah Affel, a beneficiary, said she was grateful to the GRCS and all others who had helped to make the project a success.

“When you hear of this project, take advantage of it, it has really been helpful and I know we will be very useful in some few months to come,” she advised other girls.