By: Mariama Njie
SOS Regional Mothers and Adult Training Centre (RMAT) has graduated 164 students on various program.
The ceremony was held on a theme:“On the road to recovery, building the resilience of women and children.”
Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs. Ellen Maraizu Director of the Program, in her welcoming remark said the centre is a place founded twenty years ago to provide education for SOS mothers with the commitment to deliver quality childcare to children and young people.
“The center has served the needs of women and young people from all walks of life and it continues with a historic legacy advocating for capacity building of the care profession and social workers, “she said.
According to her, over the years the centre has expanded by increasing the training programs on offer with the initiation of the social work certificate program 2006 and various vocational courses like catering, sewing, adult literacy and hotel management certificate program.
“The centre is mainly sponsored by the SOS Children village International West and relies on heavy school fees for running our programs,” she added.
As a result of its many success stories, the centre secured a substantial amount of funding in 2019 to operate an annnex in Basse, URR, she added.
Encouraging the graduands, she said: “graduating class of 2018 and 2019 as you have taken a range module to get to this point, I am confident that you will follow the footsteps of your predecessors as the centre instilled in your skill a lifetime. “
Fallu Sowe, National Coordinator Network Against Gender Base Violence, Urged graduands to support government and developing partner’s efforts to care for the rights of vulnerable people, persons with disabilities, people living with HIV and victims of SGBV.
The knowledge and skill you have acquired from this centre in the field of social work and vocational skills should be used to make a positive difference, he said.
He told the graduands not to wait to be employed but should rather create employment opportunities for themselves, by starting small businesses.
Sowe urged the government to cater for women and children in designing policies that promote women empowerment and child protection.
However the students were awarded certificates on their various course of study.
