Sr. Francisca Kumevor of the Congregation of Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church (SMMC), during the maiden graduation of Mater Ecclesiae Skills Training Centre, has charged the graduands to make use of the knowledge and skills gained in the course of the 2-year training programme.
The November 16, 2024 training was held at Kwaekese in the Donkorkrom Apostolic Vicariate in the Kwahu Afram Plains, North District, Eastern Ghana.
“Go and make good use of the skills and knowledge you have acquired. Use them with passion, integrity and creativity. Go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of courage, financial empowerment, beauty, power, dignity and love,” she said.
“Remember you are the author, the architect of your destiny, the changer of the change you wish for yourself,” she added.
According to Sr. Kumevor, the graduands have been equipped with knowledge and skills in dress-making, tailoring, and other crafts including the making of jewellery, tissue boxes, liquid soap, shampoo, parazone, detergents, beaded slippers among others.
She further mentioned that the trainees have sat for the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) Proficiency Exams, pending results.
She further buttressed that the purpose of the training is to empower the young women with skills which will make them economically viable, self-reliant, and financially independent enough to take care of themselves and their families.
In view of the afore-mentioned objective, she said “the Mater Ecclesiae Skills Training Centre, in collaboration with the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana (CMSR-GH) is donating to the graduands, the sewing machines they have been using, for them to go out and start their own businesses”.
Mr. Alexander Agbenu, Staff at the Ghana Education Service, on behalf of the Chairperson of the occasion, Madam Mabel Srem-Sei, who was unavoidably absent, reiterated the need for the graduands to go out there and be useful.
He said, “Graduands, be creative. Don’t sit down and watch your phones. You don’t have to stick to what you already know. Look up for more information on the social media, and combine with what you already have, to be able to create something different and unique,” he said, adding that this will attract people to them and to want to work with them.
He further reinforced that they can be creative by producing more items, which they could sell and fetch some money for themselves.
They could also market their products by taking them to the work place, to the churches and groups they belong to; in that way, people will get to know them and what they are capable of producing.
He encouraged them to have their individual albums with photos of their good products in them and showcase it for people to see.
Speaking on behalf of the graduands, Cecilia Mirekuwa, overall best trainee for the year, expressed deep gratitude to God and to all who have made their training a reality.
“I stand here today as a proud and grateful participant of the first batch of Mater Ecclesiae Skills Training Centre,” she noted.
She was particularly thankful to Sr. Cecilia Kudexa, SMMC, the founding Mistress of the Mater Ecclesiae Skills Training Centre, who happened to have been the emcee for the graduation ceremony, and the entire Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church (SMMC), who gave birth to the training centre with the vision of “empowering and transforming the lives of teenage mothers, school drop-outs and young women through skills training”.
“Indeed, your foresight and vision has earned us a career today and we are very grateful. We say God bless you with an increase in wisdom,” she prayed.
The graduands’ representative was equally indebted to Sr. Francisca Kumevor, SMMC, who has been “our mentor, trainer, counsellor, adviser, and above all, a mother to us throughout this period of internship”.
She was also grateful to the administration for the opportunities given them by bringing in people to teach them about entrepreneurship and how to manage their businesses, nurses who came to give them health talks, Career Guidance and Mentorship Foundation for their support.
And to Mr. Henry Bayor, a trainer whom she passionately expressed has been a father to them through the journey, Mirekuwa accentuated “Your time, discipline and principal investment in us will forever be appreciated and put to good use. You are such an amazing person. May Almighty God bless you in thousand folds and replenish whatever you spent on us”.
To her fellow graduates, she said “I thank you all for the unity, love, comportment, exhibited throughout this period of our internship and also encourage us to remain same in our various communities”.
Activities featured during the graduation ceremony included the viewing of items produced by the trainees in the course of the two-year programme, modelling by the trainees in their individually sewn clothes, the symbolic handing of a measuring tape and a pair of scissors to each of the graduands, as a way of wishing them well in their sewing career.
There was also the award of certificates and prizes to deserving trainees. Others were fundraising to support the centre, speeches, among others.
Sr. Sylvie Lum Cho, MSHR (Sister Communicator)
