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By Maduka Nweke
Many workers in the commercial sex industry appear to have trouble getting out of the trade because they got involved at a young age. Many of them also complain that they have no family support, hence, the are stuck with the job.
However, a non-governmental organization (NGO), Save Young Girls Motherhood Foundation (SYGMF), based in Anambra State, has created a soft landing for those willing to ditch the world’s oldest job.
The SYGMF provides the young ladies with a safety net that includes training to become self-reliant, support groups, peer mentoring, education, job counselling and more.
As part of SYGMF’s programmes, it recently organized a training in confectionery, which could serve as a means of livelihood.
The foundation, in its resolve to educate young girls against selling their body for mere coins, also provided them a lot of items aside from giving them psychological counselling for them to see reason and to decide on their own volition to leave the job.
The SYGMF founder, Reverend Sister Dorathy Okoli, visited brothels, strip clubs and other unhealthy places for the female folk, where her team convinced the ladies to drop the job.
They started the programme by re-orienting the girls to understand the implications of the job.
The NGO, it was learnt, has been doing a lot for humanity since 2021. The founder said the programme was tasking but saw it as part of helping to build society.
Okoli said: “To rescue young girls who are into commercial sex business is like taking a bone out of a dog’s mouth. Since we started in 2021, our major target has been those operating in Anambra. Although we are in Anambra today, with the support of members of the public, we intend to increase our spheres and make inward move in other states.
“We have taken commercial sex workers off Club Road, Awka, through confectionery training. The aim of the training is to teach them positive ways of earning a living and taking their minds away from the odd job.
“At Club Road, Awka, formerly known as Abakiliki Street, the girls were taught how to bake cake and meat pie. One spectacular thing observed from the training was the enthusiasm with which the girls followed through the whole process. The girls who have shown willingness to leave their current job would be assisted with further training of their choice and helped to start up.
“One of them asked me how she would sustain herself waiting for the gestation period of the trade to start yielding dividends after she has left the odd job. This is why we need the support of generous individuals to ensure that these young girls are permanently removed from the street.
“We intend to take them through other skills because it is important to convince them that we really care for them and are ready to cater for them. We will equip the girls with basic knowledge of self-reliance, and help them begin a new phase of life by being more productive.
“Our organization is in dire need of a rehabilitation home where the repentant girls could be kept to learn vocational training, after which they would be empowered to become financially independent. We, therefore, solicit support from the governments, donor agencies and concerned individuals to help the NGO in its activities.”
Other members of SYGMF, Mrs. Uche Egbusi and Lady Obiamaka Akabueze, lamented the living condition of the girls, and stated that the training was crucial to help them change the chapter of their lives.
Egbusi said: “If after pulling these girls out of the job we fail to give them the comfort that will convince them of our readiness to go further, they could go back to the trade. It will also be hard to carry out similar programmes in the future. We, therefore, need every support to give start-up aids to the girls who have shown serious desire to begin a fresh life.”
Some of the girls who participated in the training said it was their first time taking part in such a programme, and remarked that the scheme would help them start something that they could be proud of.
