Management of Values For Life (VFL-Ghana) has ended its 2017 Skills Development Project in Aflao in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region.

The project is to equip the youth and women of Ketu South with vocational skills to aid them in entrepreneurship.

Ms Abla Dzifa Gomashie, the Chief Executive Officer of VFL-Ghana, at the closing ceremony of the Project, said VFL-Ghana sought to provide various social systems to help improve lives of children, youth and women in the society through Creative and Performing Arts, Culture and Traditional Heritage, Tourism and Digital Innovations.

She said: “As an organisation we plan our activities with the long vacation in August every year, this year, due to circumstances beyond our control, we held two separate activities.”

She said the organisation held a reading clinic to coincide with the long vacation and taught school children drumming and dancing from the 14th -19th August at the Avoeme Basic School in Aflao, where VFL-Ghana also had a library.

Ms Gomashie said the VFL-Ghana Team used the period to teach the young ones how reading could be fun through pronunciation and meaning of words and current affairs.

“We organised a youth forum as well to inspire the youth of Aflao and we believe that the world will continue to be a better place if the children and youth are given the necessary resources, which will help them to be great leaders,” she said.

The Project, which was sponsored by the US Embassy, was in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal-8, which was to promote sustained, inclusive and economic growth, productive employment and decent work for all.

Ms Gomashie said in 2030, when Ghana was expected to achieve a good level of the UN SDGs, VFL-Ghana would be proud to have contributed to it by creating opportunities for good and decent jobs, secure livelihoods and support inclusive and sustainable business practices.

Ms Alice Mamaga Akosua Amoako, the Programme Coordinator of VFL-Ghana, said the Project had registered 200 people out of which 100 people had acquired skills in soap making and beads stringing, 40 in batik tye and dye, 31 in basket weaving, 10 in painting and seven in flute playing.

She said the participants were between ages 18 to 60 years, which includes over 70 per cent of women, 40 per cent of youth and 30 per cent of men.