House of Damaris trains youth in garment construction

by Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh

Over 300 Ghanaian youth have successfully undergone training in garment construction, courtesy House of Damaris, an award winning indigenous garment firm. The young entrepreneurs were taken through theoretical and practical lessons on topics such as knitting, embroidery, garment cutting, designs among many others.

They were also given additional lessons on how to write good proposals to secure funding to start their business, as well as dynamics in the local garment construction industry. About 60% of the young entrepreneurs who were trained in batches in a period of over six years were retained by the firm to produce for both local and international markets.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of House of Damaris, Mrs. Josephine Naana Baiden-Agyarko told The Chronicle in an exclusive interview that the idea of retaining some of the trainees was to afford them the opportunity to further put into practice what they were thought.

According to her, training the youth in entrepreneurship was part of House of Damaris’ corporate social responsibility to give back to society what it as was due.

“Each year, thousands of youth are dropped out from the various academic institutions, especially, at the Junior High School level. So, we decided to invest in some of them from our own resources by offering them free practical training lasting six to twelve months. The idea is to turn them from liability to asset for the country,” she noted.

She said all the youth who have passed through the corridors of House of Damaris were now gainfully employed in their respective localities across the country.

Mrs. Baiden-Agyarko, an award winning entrepreneur (Women of Excellence Award – 2012) commenting further told the paper that giving the crucial role entrepreneurs play in the development of the country, it was time to inject more resources in their training, so as to empower them to set up their own businesses.

She appealed to the government to consider enacting policies that would offer incentives to encourage the youth into the entrepreneurial field

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