By: Joseph Nyeweah in Kenema district
The Ministry of Social Welfare MoSW, through its PERSIF project, recently conducted a two-day WASH promotion training at the Kenema District Council conference hall on Nyandeyama Road in Kenema.
Beneficiaries of the training included nurses, head teachers, artisans, wash technicians, and entrepreneurs, drawn from six chiefdoms within the Kenema district.
The objective of the training was to enhance hygiene and sanitation skills and practices, promote the maintenance and sustainability of WASH facilities, including pumps (hand pumps and solar-powered water systems) constructed by the project in schools and communities, as well as create linkage between WASH/Pump technicians and entrepreneurs.
Giving background on the project, Community Development Specialist Cecilia Becker called on participants to take the training very seriously and to cascade the knowledge gained to other members of the community.
She called on all to work as a team in their communities to enhance development at all times.
The Hon Member of Parliament Bo District, who doubles as Chairman Board of Directors of CASI-SL, Hon. Charles Osman Abdulai, formally handed over the CASI-SL team to the Kenema District Council in order to enhance successful implementation of the project in the district. He calls on all and sundry to play their individual rolls in the project implementation in the interest of all.
The assigned staff from the Ministry of Social Welfare to the PERCIF Project, who also double as the acting communication officer for the project, Edson Alie Kamara, disclosed that the training is part of the government’s recovery effort to restore socioeconomic opportunities destroyed by the Ebola viral diseases EVD and to build the resilience of these former EVD hotspot communities.
Taplima Muana Consultant trainer CASI–Sierra Leone said the entire training across the targeted districts boiled on hygiene and sanitation and called on the targeted beneficiaries across the six chiefdoms in Kenema districts to look at opportunities that will help them make money.
To undertake these capacity-building exercises, the ministry contracted CASI-SL, a non-governmental organization, to provide training on WASH promotion, entrepreneurship, and management.
The training will also enhance the capacity of health management committees, school health clubs, school management committees, community artisans, and hygiene promoters on how to identify issues and challenges that affect WASH functionality, develop strategies, and mobilize resources to mitigate and solve potential problems relating to the operations, management, and sustainability of water supply and sanitation services within the district.
