Bolgatanga, May 06, GNA - Eighteen orphans in the Bolgatanga municipality have passed out after a two-year cloth weaving skills training at Bolgatanga.

The training and passing-out, the second in three years, was sponsored by the Pentecost Social Services (PENSOS) in collaboration with the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) at the cost of 51 million cedis.

PENSOS provided the orphans with weaving looms, thread and supplementary feeding allowance during the training which they will take away in addition to 100,000 cedis as capital to start work.

Mr Abraham Gbagidie, PENSOS Gender Manager, said the Church of Pentecost took up the challenge three years ago following an appeal to rehabilitate widows and orphans in Bolgatanga.

He said apart from the cloth weaving skills, the church has so far reached out to 135 widows and orphans through basket weaving, soap and pomade making and shea butter extraction.

Mr Rockson Bukari, the acting the Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive, appealed to the graduates to consider themselves fortunate to have received the training free of charge.

He told them to mould their lives into useful citizens that will prevent them from contracting HIV/ AIDS.

Miss Victoria Bakonar, a prefect of the trainees, thanked PENSOS and pledged that they would make the best use of the opportunity given them.

She said at a time most of them had lost all hope, it was PENSOS that gave them an arm to lean on. "We would have been destitute."