Vane gets 1.2 billion cedi rural textile training center

Vane-Avatime (V/R), Dec. 15, GNA - Miss Susan Driano, Economic Section Chief at the US Embassy, on Friday commissioned a 1.2 billion cedi Rural Textiles Training Centre at Vane-Avatime with a call on the youth to take advantage of the project to improve their socio-economic status.

The Centre, which had support from the US Ambassador's Special Self Help Programme and the World Bank's Ghana Development Market (GDM) Place Innovation Competition 2005 Award Grant, will train and provide employment for the youth through the economic exploitation of broadloom weaving.

The facility is made up of a hostel, two classrooms, a store, a research room, five offices and workshops fully equipped with broadlooms and other weaving accessories to produce textiles of marketable quality for the local market and for export. Ms Driano stated that the success of the project " is a symbol of perseverance" after several attempts to access funds from the Special Self Help Programme had failed. She explained that the project was chosen for funding out of over 350 applications received. Ms Driano said the Special Self Help Programme enables the US Embassy to give support directly to groups and villages that are taking self-help initiatives. She said the Embassy encourages projects that promote individual and community empowerment through increased access to health care, education, improved sanitation and environment, technical training and income generation through productive enterprises among others. Ms Driano noted that since 1990, the US Embassy had granted more than one million dollars to more than 360 projects spread throughout the country.

She advised individuals and communities who could not have their proposals chosen not to give up but keep trying. Mr Charles Gbagbo, Centre Manager, expressed gratitude to the Embassy and the World Bank for their timely intervention at the time when the project was struggling to take root. He said the assistance from the US served as a "spring board" for the project winning the GDM Award Grant from the World Bank. Mr Gbagbo appealed to the Embassy to assist the Centre in through technical cooperation to enable students from the Centre to study in any technical institution in the US in product development in line with US standards for the centre to be able to compete in the global textile market.

He said in line with the objectives of the Centre, unemployed youths in the community and school leavers would be trained and gainfully employed to reduce poverty in the area. 15 Dec. 06