04 Mar 2015

A total of 30 trainees from the North West District graduated in the fields of carpentry and joinery as well as welding and fabrication at the Kweneng Bophirima Brigades in Takatokwane on February 27.

Giving a word of encouragement to the graduates at the end of the three week long training, the assistant coordinator of Poverty Eradication Unit, Mr Sumbe Ongadile urged them to be determined and use the knowledge they acquired to set up businesses and create employment.

He advised them to cease from depending on civil servants as they were only there to advise them.

“I understand that your training included a component of business management, this was done in anticipation that when you graduate you are going to open your own business. This knowledge should therefore be enough to keep you afloat,” he said. He also said that the war on poverty cannot be won when people shelve the knowledge they acquire.

Mr Ongadile also informed the graduates that their training was part of the alternative packages which were initiated to complement the original backyard gardens as a way of fighting poverty.

The director of Community Development, Mr Steven Ludick on the other hand appreciated the brigade for hosting the training, and hailed the graduates for sacrificing three weeks of their family time to come and pursue knowledge in a place far from their homes.

He also urged them to utilise the knowledge they acquired, saying as the pioneer trainees they are the ambassadors of the poverty eradication programme and therefore should ensure it succeeds to give it a positive image.

Mr Ludick said he has noted that in most instances where poverty eradication projects had failed, it was as a result of the attitude of the people towards those programmes, rather than the weaknesses in the programmes themselves.

He said despite some challenges encountered in the poverty eradication programmes, government still has confidence in them, and would continue to make improvements for the better.

Mr Ludick also informed the graduates that after opening businesses, they should ensure the highest standards as well as customer satisfaction as some of the basic keys in sustaining a business.

In his closing remarks, Takatokwane MP, Mr Ngaka Ngaka advised the graduates to be wary of opportunists who would want to enjoy the fruits of their businesses after they succeed. ENDS