Save the Children International has over the weekend distributed livelihood support to 240 vulnerable households in the western area as part of the organisation’s economic empowerment scheme in the country. The organisation among other things mentioned that the support is geared towards economically empowering households to prevent negative coping strategies that put girls and boys at risk of adolescent pregnancy.
Alex S. Kargbo, Western Area Project Officer of Gender Business at Save the Children, said the organisation chose to support the vulnerable households with livelihood rather than liquid cash based on what they’ve heard about microcredit finance programmes and other projects. He furthered that although the project is for children, they chose to involve the parents because the children would not be able to manage the business properly, and “this would empower the parent to take care of their children even when the project lapsed”.
Kargbo mentioned that they have already given the beneficiaries knowledge on how to save monies for the future, but they also believe that teaching them skills is not enough “but opportunities should also be created by giving them the tools to utilise the skills”. He said each beneficiary was asked about what s/he would want to sell, and each given Le750,000 worth of products of their choice, among them rice, flour, assorted drinks, charcoal, palm oil, and more.
Abu Kamara and Mariama John, two beneficiaries that share a similar plight: single parents that were left with children to take care of by their spouses, see the support from Save the Children as a stepping stone that would go a long way in helping them take care of their children.
By Abdulrahman Koroma