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Frankadua, Ghana – MTN Ghana Foundation has supported the training of thirty-three (33) former Trokosi girls who graduated from the Baptist Vocational Training Centre at Frankadua in the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
The beneficiaries received certificates in Catering, Hairdressing, Dressmaking, and Cosmetology as well as seed capital and start-up equipment from MTN Ghana Foundation.
The start-up equipment included gas cylinders, ovens, sewing machines, fabrics, sewing kits, hairdryers, washing basins, hair relaxers, towels, roller stands, and hair products. This support is to enable the graduates to setup their businesses immediately after graduation.
According to Adwoa Afriyie Wiafe, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer of MTN Ghana, “We hope that our support will aid in their reintegration into society, reduce their dependency on their families and ultimately help them break the cycle of poverty.”
She further stated, “It is our hope that they will become self-reliant by using the skills they have acquired to enhance their livelihood and that of their communities.”
Rev. Emmanuel Obani, Head of the Baptist Vocational Training Centre, praised MTN Ghana Foundation for its assistance to the graduates. He said, “We are thankful to the MTN Ghana Foundation for supporting our graduates. This timely assistance will greatly benefit the beneficiaries in their career paths.”
This is the second time the MTN Ghana Foundation has supported the training and reintegration of former Trokosi girls. In 2021, the Foundation assisted 15 former Trokosi girls with training, equipment, and seed capital. The success of the first project helped in extending more support to the girls this year.
Since its inception in 2007, the MTN Ghana Foundation has executed over 168 major projects across Health, Education, and Economic Empowerment, positively impacting more than 4 million people throughout Ghana.
Trokosi is a traditional system of the Ewe people of Ghana, Togo and Benin where virgin girls, some as young as six years old, are sent to shrines as slaves to make amends for wrongs committed by a member of the virgin girl’s family. Until the 1990s, girls sent to the shrines stayed for life. After the 90’s some of the priests and elders of the shrines were willing to let the girls go back home after a few years and return shortly when they were needed. When a girl dies, the family must replace her with another virgin girl. This means that the family will pay reparation, of one girl, forever.
When the virgin girls are sent to the shrines, they become the “wives of the gods” and are sexually exploited by the priests and shrine elders. If there are children born out of the relationship with them, they become the responsibility of the virgin girls’ family. Trokosi girls live in constant hunger and poverty.
By SavannahNewsOnline.Com/Kusiele Ziem
