People living with Disabilities (PWDs), who are participating in the ongoing Edo Government organised leather works training, have commended the state government for giving them an opportunity to earn a living.
They gave the commendation in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Saturday on their experiences on the training.
The participants said the knowledge they gained during the programme would be used to lift themselves and others out of poverty.
NAN reports that the programme, which started in December 2020 in Benin, will end in February 2021, with trainees’ workshops to carry out leather shoe work production.
It also reports that the 60 working days leather work training is organised by the Edo Skills Development Agency (Edojobs), in collaboration with Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), to equip PWDs with vocational skills.
Speaking, Mr Boniface Onueze, a trainee with physical disability, told NAN that the state government had taken a good step to empower them.
Onueze said that sustainability of such training would go a long way to remove the PWDs, who usually take to begging, from the streets.
“I appreciate the state government for organising this training for PWDs and the promise to give us a workshop after the training, because we need skills to be useful to ourselves and the society,’’ Onueze said.
Another trainee Mr Augustine Osifo, with hearing and speech impairment, said the programme was a life changer for him.
“My experience at this training has been very good; I have learnt a lot about leather shoe production and I am still learning.
“Our instructor is doing well and my plan after the training is to open a shop where I will train other persons that have hearing and speech impairment to become self-dependent,’’ Osifo said.
Also, Mr Paul Osazenaye with physical disability, said his zeal to become industrious motivated him to enrol in the free leather works training.
“I don’t want my physical disability to limit me in anyway; I want to make myself useful,’’ Osazenaye said.
In his comment, Mr Victor Osewingie, aLead Facilitator for the hearing and speech impairment section, commended the level of creativity being displayed by the trainees.
Osewingie said: “The PWDs learn fast and their level of creativity is top notch; sometimes, I get surprise with their output.
“I teach them with the use of an interpreter who is also a trainee. I also use the white board to do illustrations.
“The state government has provided a shoe factory where they can do their jobs after the training.” (NAN)
