REPORT FROM GHANA UNIT TO WEST AFRICA AREA PRESIDENT OF WORLD FEDERATION OF METHODIST AND UNITING CHURCH WOMEN - MARCH 2013
Introduction
Ghanaians are becoming more health conscious and gradually acquiring knowledge on how to develop and maintain optimum health and wellness. Therefore some of the activities carried out by the women of the Methodist Church Ghana in 2012 include Assembly meetings where health talks on various conditions that are common in the country are discussed among members with the aim of improving the health of the women and their families. The discussions were based on how these conditions could be prevented. To help achieve millennium goal 5 which deals with improving maternal health, health talks were given on ways to improve the health of the pregnant and nursing woman. The women of the Church were also taken through various skills training to help improve their economic status.
Other activities were retreating from the routine of home and work and having meetings where in-depth Bible Studies and Intercessory prayer sessions were carried out for spiritual upliftment and deeper faith in God. Members were encouraged to let the abiding presence of God be with them in every moment of their lives. They were to start each morning by acknowledging God's presence. Ask His presence to be with them and their families throughout the day and allow that knowledge to direct their actions and attitudes.
Projects by Women of the Church
Hope for Teens' Skills Training Centre in Accra is among the projects being undertaken by women of theMethodist Church Ghana. It was started in 1989 as a project for girls who could not complete the basic education for one reason or another. Currently, girls who have gone through Junior High School are enrolled. They are given skills training that enable them to be employable. Some of the skills are Catering, Beauty & Hairdressing, Sewing and Bead making. So far about 24 batches of 839 students have graduated from the Centre. Most of these girls have employed themselves and others employed by institutions and organizations. During training students are given 3 months industrial attachment that exposes them to industries and organizations. The centre is currently being financed by the women of the Church through levies and donations. There is a plan to register the Centre with National Vocational Training Institute, the examining body of vocational schools in Ghana.
Catering Class in Session
Hairdressing Demonstration
Bead making class
TheMethodist Women's Training Centre (MWTC) in Kwadaso, Kumasi:MWTC was established in 1964 through the collaborative effort of the Women’s Fellowship of the Methodist Mission Society of Britain, the Gold Coast Mission under the Women’s Work Committee and the Methodist Church of Ghana, with immense support from Sir AgyemanPrempeh II, Asantehene, Nana SerwaaNyarko, the Queen mother and the Asanteman Council. At the onset the students at the
Centre were taken through Proficiency and Foundation courses in Catering, Fashion design and Hairdressing. In order to help the students attain appreciable levels that competes well with the market, the Intermediate and Advance levels have been instituted. A higher level called Technical and Vocational Educational Training (TVET) which has the following courses Catering, Fashion design, English, Mathematics, Social Science, Integrated Science and Computer studies enables the student who graduates to apply for one year Post Diploma course, followed by a three (3) year degree programme at the University in any of the elective subjects. Students are exposed to one month practical attachment in industries. The students are given entrepreneurial skills that enable them to set up small scale businesses after the course or get employed by an industry. The Centre also takes care of career women who want to improve on their skills in Catering, Fashion design including batikmaking or Hairdressing. These women take between two weeks to one month to learn the skills. Some women are able to generate extra income from the acquired skill. The Centre has started providing Crèche services to help take care of working women with babies.
Dress making & Needle work Class in session (above)
Street Children Rehabilitation Programme
About forty (40) street children have been enrolled in formal education and vocational training and are being provided with food and clothing. On Sundays, they are brought together and takenthroughBible studies after being given a hot meal. Plans are in place to provide hostel accommodation for them.
Women in the Methodist Church Ghana were also encouraged to take up leadership positions by making sure leadership training was carried out at the various levels of the Church. Hospitals andmaternity wards received donations in cash and kind from the women of the Church. This was to ensure that people in need are well taken care of.
Directorate for Gender and Family Issues
In its strategic plan for 2012, the Methodist Church Ghana deemed it necessary to make certain changes that will expand the scope and mandate of the Women's Division and to scale up the involvement of men and boys in its programmes. The name 'Women's Division' of the Church has been changed to 'Gender and Family Issues Directorate'. The Gender and Family Issues Directorate is tasked to strengthen inter-organizational harmony and build strong and healthy family ties through various programmes. Women leaders are challenged to take a closer look at the family life of members of the Church and develop programmes that will promote healthy family life. This has brought men into activities that was formerly the preserve of women. Women and men interaction is generatingrich ideas and activities that promote the welfare of families. The women are still the leaders of the directorate. At the Connexional level the leadership of the Gender and family Issues directorate has changed. The new leader is Very Rev. Jemima Amanor, a Child advocate and development practitioner.
Advocacy for Girl-Child Education
Women's work, empowerment and advocacy for girl-child education has generated great results. Presently in most of the mixed Senior High Schools, there are more student girls than boys. The girls' performance are also better than boys. In the Primary Schools, the picture is the same. At the University level currently,female population is higher and more women than men are getting the First Class awards. An example is found in the 2011/2012 academic year results for the first degree students of Methodist University in Ghana.
*The results of the final year students of 2011/2012 academic year (First Degree)
Class / Male / Female / TotalFirst Class / 40 / 60 / 100
2nd Class Upper / 108 / 126 / 234
2nd Class Lower / 297 / 347 / 644
Third Class / 14 / 11 / 25
Pass / 16 / 4 / 20
The percentage of female students to the total student body is 55.9%
*(Source: The Methodist University academic office. Used with permission)
Women's Work Sunday
The Methodist Church Ghana has established Women's Work Sunday, a day set aside to celebrate and highlight the vital role women play in enhancing economic security for their families and the Church. The day is also dedicated to honouring women for their social, economic and political accomplishments. Some of women's work in the Church include the following: Caring for the underprivileged including orphans, those in prison, the sick, skills training for adults and young girls, sharing the gospel with others. On this day women take up all the activities of the Church, for example leading the Liturgy, Preaching, reading the Bible lessons and Notices. The women are encouraged and prayed for.
World Day of Prayer
World Day of Prayer is celebrated annually with the women taking the lead in the Churches to pray for God's work, under privileged children and women throughout the world.This year's celebration was based on the theme, "I was a stranger and you took me in."
World Federation Day
Celebration of World Federation Day is another activity of the women of the Church. The speakers for the day talked on Millennium Development Goal 4 - Reducing Child mortality. The programme was well attended in some societies. The others were being encouraged to participate in the celebration of the day.
Ghana Government's Support for Gender Equality
Within the government setting, Ghana is committed to ensure gender equality through promotion of welfare system, protection of children and empowering the vulnerable through social interventions. These interventions include the following: Enactment of laws such as the Children's Act, Domestic Violence Act, Human Trafficking Act and criminalization of violence against women and children. Female genital mutilation is a crime punishable by high prison sentence.
In the Ghana Police Service there is the Domestic Violence and Victim's Support Unit (DOVVSU) that ensures prompt interventions in dealing with domestic offences. The Judiciary have also set up two specialist gender-based violence courts in the Southern and Middle sectors of the country that deal with domestic offenses. A Shelter for Survivors of domestic violence has been built in Accra to protect such people. There is the creation of anti-domestic violence clubs, training of Police and Social Welfare personnel and health care providers on handling domestic violence issues. All these measures are attempts to ensure that women and children, the most vulnerable in society, are protected from harm and provided with proper care.
Submitted by Very Rev Jemima Amanor
Director, Gender & Family Issues
Methodist Church Ghana
March 2013
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