Rural women told to do more in advancing their development

DAASGIFT Quality Foundation, an NGO based in the Western Region, has since 2015 disbursed more than GHC 50,000 to financially empower women in the fish processing industry in the six coastal districts of the Western Region.

Madam Gifty Baaba Asmah, Executive Director of DAASGIFT Quality Foundation, who made this known during a day's seminar at Shama, said so far a total of 450 women have benefited from the fund.

She said out of the number, 120 women from Shama were beneficiaries of the fund.

Madam Asmah said the 'Helping women project' started in the region in 2015 to empower rural women to be more independent and responsible in meetings the needs of their families.

She said, "we have already taken them through business management, savings culture and alternative livelihoods support programmes, aside improving on the fishing business with new and improved ovens for smoking fish".

She suggested that the various District Assemblies could help the Foundation to get assistance from MASLOC to help rural women.

Mrs Mildred Siabi-Mensah, Deaconess at the Fire Glory Chapel, advised women in rural communities to live their lives as the women described in Proverbs chapter 31 from verses 10 onwards by contributing meaningfully to the development of their families and society at large.

She said women have been ordained by God to be positive change agents with the capabilities to manage every resource, multiply it and improve their lives.

She said it was important that older women also served as role models for the younger generation in words and deed, particularly on morality, to save the society from collapse.

Some women testified to the change the programme had brought into their lives in terms of savings, acquiring canoe for fishing and being able to pay for the children’s school fees.