Salone innovator trains women, youth on life transforming skills 

January 29, 2018 By Hassan Gbassay Koroma

Sierra Leonean young innovator, Sheka B.A Mansaray Jr.,with funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), last Friday 26^th January, 2018, commenced  skills training for women and young people to use water plastic to make shopping bags, trash bins, home baskets, ladies bags, seating room mats, among  others.

The skills training, which targeted women and young people in the Funkia and Cockle Bay communities -would help to clean the streets and gutters littered with plastics- with the aim to enhance drainage flow, reduce potential flooding and mitigate environmental challenges, especially in Freetown.

Speaking during the launch of the skills training session at the Traders Union office in Funkia, Freetown, Grace Facility Services Ltd’s Innovative Development Consultant- Sheka B.A Mansaray Jr., said currently they were training women and young people in the Funkia and Cockle Bay communities to produce market value items from waste water plastics for income generation.

He said the skills training on Waste Management and Water Plastic Recycling had actually started on the 24^th January, 2018, but was formally launched on Friday 26^th January, 2018.

Also speaking, Programme Specialist- Environment Cluster -at the United Nations Development Programme, Tanzila Sankoh, said water plastic are widely littered particularly in Freetown and has been a major cause of environmental problems resulting to flooding in the city.

She said women and young people remain unemployed amidst such opportunities, adding that littering plastic can actually be innovatively used to capacitate vulnerable communities and make them productive by producing a large range of items that can be sold for income generation.

She said from that backdrop, the United Nations Development Programme  funded the Grace Facility Services Ltd -a professional cleaning, waste management and event management company- to train women and young people on how to recycle water plastic by making market value items including bags, baskets, mats and pencil purses for children.

She said Grace Facility Services shall also market the products that will be made at the end of the training.

The project Gender Consultant, Melrose Kargbo, reminded participants about the bright future ahead of women, if they can acquire the skill and be ready to apply themselves to generate income that will make them independent, self-disciplined and be safe from the many domestic worries they face on a daily basis.