‘DESPITE COVID, WE WERE FORTUNATE NOT TO COME TO A COMPLETE HALT’

Since the spring of 2020, the new coronavirus has also gripped daily life in Ghana. The virus has primarily impacted the capital, Accra, but new infections are reported daily from more remote areas as well. Particularly in the economically weak northern part of the country, the population is suffering from the effects of the pandemic.

The work has not become easier for development organizations in this part of Ghana. Our partner NOYED-Ghana in Tamale, the largest city in Northern Ghana, has had to scale down its activities in many areas over the past year and a half. This has naturally impacted the vocational training programs it provides.

OUT OF THE FIRE

“We had just started a new course year for our metalworking and tailoring programs when the first COVID-19 cases were confirmed here in Ghana,” says Alhassan Abdulai Iddi. As the executive director, he coordinates all the outreach and training programs that NOYED-Ghana has developed and implemented in the north of the country since 2005. This includes welding, metalworking, and tailoring training at NOYED-Ghana’s training center in Tamale. Gered Gereedschap supports these efforts by donating sewing machines, welding equipment, and metalworking tools. “In 2019, we asked Gered Gereedschap for support. We had a severe shortage of equipment and tools to run the training programs we envisioned. There is widespread poverty and high youth unemployment in this region. Quality vocational training can mean the difference between a hopeless existence in poverty and a life with an income and a future. Since NOYED-Ghana’s inception, vocational training has been one of our core activities. Over the years, we have managed to provide these courses with great effort. We have also helped graduates set up their own workshops. But we reached our limit. Providing equipment and tools to graduates, so they could start their own businesses after completing their training, was almost impossible. We were even close to asking parents for a contribution for the lessons, and they hardly have any money. Gered Gereedschap saved us from that.”

TRAINING AND COVID

With the sewing machines, welding equipment, and other tools donated by Gered Gereedschap, NOYED-Ghana was able to continue providing free vocational training and helping graduates start their own businesses at the beginning of 2020. “Despite all the restrictions and difficulties due to COVID-19, 25 students completed their welding and metalworking courses with us last year,” says Alhassan. “And we have also been able to donate equipment and tools to various tradespeople in the area, giving them the tools to handle the jobs people come to them for and allowing them to train our students as apprentices. In addition, five tailors have completed their training with the help of the newly arrived sewing machines. So, despite COVID, we were fortunate not to come to a complete halt. But the impact of the pandemic is, of course, significant. Donations have decreased, and while we had plans to increase the number of students and hire an additional teacher, the number of students has decreased significantly due to COVID-19 restrictions. At this moment, we have only five participants in our vocational courses. We have never experienced anything like this before. It’s not an optimistic situation, but without the help of Gered Gereedschap, things would have been much worse for us.”