New staff undergo orientation

A one week orientation and gender training has been organized for 32 new staff of SEND-GHANA at Salaga in the Northern Region of Ghana. All the new staff would be working on SEND’s Livelihood Security programme in the Eastern corridor of Ghana.  A key project driving the Livelihood Security programme is the Food Security Through Cooperatives in Northern Ghana (FOSTERING) project.

The goal of the project is to increase sustainable, gender equitable food security for over 42,000 women and men in eight districts in the Eastern Corridor of Northern Ghana (East Gonja, Kpandai, Nanumba South, Nanumba North, Krachi-Nchumuru, Zabzugu, Tatale-Sangule and Chereponi).
 
This project is expected to reach over 331,800 individuals with the inclusion of family members. The training which started on Monday 17th and ended on Friday 21st March was aimed at integrating the new members into the SEND family.
 
Raymond Avatim, the Director of Livelihood and Food Security of SEND-GHANA was quoted as saying, “in every organisation once you have new people coming on board you need to let them get to understand the nature of work that they are coming to do, to help them to integrate. This is to facilitate the integration process’’.  This is the first time SEND has had to work with a large number of staff at a time.
 
This according to Avatim makes it imperative to get them to understand SEND’s new livelihood security project and their expected roles in achieving the ultimate outcome of the project.
 
Gender is a core component of SEND’s operation and for that matter an integral part of the FOSTERING project. “We want them to understand the gender issues so that we can ensure that the project does not discriminate against women,” he added.
 
It has been very wonderful, I thought that it would be difficult to have the new staff open up and the level of critical thinking from the participants has impressed me and this is very important for team building and I can see it in them, Avatim said.
 
Millicent Basinnaah Sumbo is a 26 years old who had a stint with Bolga Municipal Health Directorate. She is a new staff assigned to the FOSTERING project and had this perspective to share: “I am someone who believes in integrity and working hard enough even with limited resources… and also working hard in a team to achieve a desired goal’’. I am spurred on to deliver on the nutritional component of the project. She observed. On her part, Patience Afi Seglah also a new staff on the FOSTERING project said she believed in community-based communication to promote the rights and needs of people.
 
Mark Dum Barkung said if all staff of SEND should cultivate the spirit of perseverance and team work, it would go a long way to help in the attainment of SEND’s set target. Mohammed Musah supported this statement.
 
The Fostering project is a five-year initiative funded the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada formerly the Canadian International Development Agency (DFATD) with contributions from the Canadian Cooperative Association (CCA). bringing the total project cost to CAD $8,032,151. Within Ghana, SEND-GHANA and the Ghana Co-operative Credit Unions Association are the key implementing partners.
 
CCA is a national association for co-operatives in Canada, representing more than nine million co-operative and credit union members from over 2,000 organizations.  Individual co-op members are represented by CCA either directly through their co-operative, provincial co-op associations, central credit union, or through sectoral organizations.  CCA is a federally-incorporated co-operative owned by its member organizations.

Source: Pascal K. Kudiabor, Communication Officer, SEND-GHANA