For the teenage boys in the Awutu Senya West Constituency in the Central Region to overcome this challenging period, the Member of Parliament, Hon. Nenyi George Andah, has rolled out the maiden edition of the Boys Empowerment Project (BEP) which is pivoted on four thematic areas-Instilling Discipline, Self Discovery, Vocational Empowerment and Mindset Renewal to help them.
This novelty which was initiatived by Mr. Nanyi George Andah and organized by Junior Shapers Africa (JSA), a male child empowerment social enterprise, trained about 400 school boys drawn from various schools within the Constituency at the premises of the Pentecost Church in Bawjiase.
This is in line with the Ghana@60 theme of Mobilizing for Ghana’s future, and the New Patriotic Party(NPP), Manifesto theme of Creating Prosperity and Equal Opportunities for All he said.
With this initiative, Mr. Andah hope to engage the youth especially fresh voters and collect data, address basic welfare challenges, build a superior locally relevant and sustainable relationship with them, in order to empower them and change their mindset about politics and their personal role to make an impact in society.
In her opening address, the District Director of Education, Mrs Anna Belinda Baidoo was grateful to the Honourable Member of Parliament and JSA and urged the enthusiastic young boys to heed to the words of encouragement and advice from the Facilitators in order to become the change they seek for.
As the Founding Director of Junior Shapers Africa, which runs behaviour change activities for children to help them explore the expectations placed upon boys and girls as future leaders, Mrs Ethel Marfo remarked that the boys were blessed to have an MP who is passionate about youth development.
She reiterated the importance of renewing their mindset in a bid to take advantage of the MP’s innovations and the Government’s agenda for the youth. The interactions were interspersed with thought-provoking video documentaries. There was also medical screening for the boys.
In his presentation as the Host & Guest of Honour, Mr. George Andah provoked the boys to believe in themselves and in Ghana. He broke the ice by challenging the boys to recite or sing the National Anthem without errors-an exercise he duly rewarded the few bold and action oriented boys who accepted the challenge and sang the Anthem. The astute politician underscored the importance for these boys to properly position themselves to benefit from the numerous interventions he’s going to roll out for his constituents.
The Legislator also added that, he was not only optimistic in the President’s vision of a transformed Ghana but also very hopeful of a transformed constituency of responsible men and women pursuing their dreams.
He urged the boys to be honest with themselves, hardworking and humble, stating that these qualities were important to becoming responsible men.
A Faculty member and a teacher at the St Martin de Porres School in Dansoman, a surberb of Accra, Mr. Kodwo Baidoo and Mr Francis Nunoo a skilled artist and innovator walked the boys through the Benefits of aquiring vocational skills.
The boys were encouraged to look within themselves to unearth and nurture their talents, dreams and passions.
The corporate space is too crowded already and might no longer be able to accommodate them for which reason there is the need to rigorously pursue vocational and technical skills to become self employed in the nearest future.
The day was concluded with an insightful presentation on Temperaments facilitated by JSA Faculty Member Pastor Claude Mann to help them discover themselves, their behavioural patterns and career choices with respect to their temperaments.
The District Coordinator of Education, Mr. Samuel Amoah expressed profound gratitude on behalf of the Education Directorate and hinted of a possible replication of the training program on Circuit basis for boys and girls. He was assured of JSA’s full support in contributing to the mobilization of Ghana’s Future.
