Trax Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organization with funding support from Engineers without Boarders, (EwBs), based in Norway, has built a Youth Empowerment and Community Centre (YEC) at the Kambusigo community in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region at the cost of 708,000 Ghana Cedis .
The building facilities which include a conference hall, library, computer lab, server room and office space is intended to play multiple roles including providing supplementary curricular education to deprived students to increase their chances of completing Junior High School (JHS) as well as make them gain access to higher education and wider career options.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony at the Kambusigo community on Thursday , the Director of TRAX Ghana , Mr Vincent Subbey, announced that the Centre will re-engage students who had dropped out of JHS to help them either complete thier educaion or provide them with alternative sets of livelihood and markets to become self-reliant.
He added that the facility will additionally liaise with local health authorities to provide reproductive health education, as a step to minimizing the risk of school drop-out due to teen pregnancy.
The Director who stated that the centre will also strengthen social networks and community mobilization and participation, explained that TRAX Ghana had been in partnership with EwB for sometimes now which has translated into improving the livelihoods of the communty members especially needy girls.
He cited examples where many of deprived girls in the ommunity were provided with schoolarship schemes, and others empowered with skills to go into vegetable production and animal rearing through the green gas project also funded by EwB.
The Director, EwBs, Norway, Ms Marianne Nilsen Sturmair, said she was proud that EWBs humanitarian engineering efforts had contributed to TRAX Ghana’s mission of empowering young people in challenging life situations with practical skills for sustainable livelihoods.
She said her outfit was also happy that the newly built Youth Empowerment Centre would be integrated into the farm and greenhouse project to serve as a practical hub for teaching and learning for girls and youth in the area by offering them practical solutions and sharing knowledge.
The Norwegian Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Kamaraina Mia, said Norwegian government cherishes the bond of relation between the two countries and said Norwegian government would continue to foster the bond of relationships to address the needs of the deprived particularly women and children.
She entreated TRAX-Ghana and the Chief and people of the Kambusigo traditional area to take good care of the facility to help prolong its lifespan for other generation to also benefit.
The Chief of Kambusigo, Naba Anafo Robert , mentioned that unlike before, TRAX-Ghana intervention had contributed to curbing girls school drop out in the community as well as sponsored some girls in the community who got good grades to be transitioned into Senior High Schools.
