NEWSCOPE
By JIDAUNA DARING
Participants at a three-day trauma healing, capacity building and youth life skills training workshop have applauded the Plateau State First Lady, Barrister Mrs Helen Mutfwang, for rebuilding their hope through the impartation of trading and business skills, among other interventions, as internally displaced persons (IDPs).
They gave the commendation during the closing ceremony of the workshop organised by the Office of the Plateau State First Lady in collaboration with UNICEF for over 250 IDP participants, held at the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre, Lamingo, Jos, recently.
The event, themed: ‘Rebuilding from within; A 3-day workshop for trauma-affected youths and IDPs in Plateau State’, focused on making the participants self-reliant.
The participants included women, young girls and some youth drawn from Bokkos, Riyom and Barkin Ladi Local Government Areas (LGAs).
The participants described the workshop as transformative and a new beginning for them as crisis victims.
Sharing her testimony on the gains of the workshop, Mrs Lydia Bitrus from Barkin Ladi LGA said that she came to the programme as a sick person with spiritual, physical, psychological and emotional problems, noting that, to the glory of God, she was going back healed.
“I am happy because the training has given me hope. I am now out of hopelessness to a zone of strong, new, hopeful person.”
A participant from Riyom LGA, Mrs Afiniki Dalyop, adjudged the three-day workshop as the most timely and significant, considering some of the hardships they were going through at the IDP camps.
“I was really sleeping over a trauma that could kill me one day. But I thank God, I have gotten enough training on how to come out of trauma, and by God’s grace, with this workshop, I am out of trauma.”
Mrs Dalyop noted that the workshop had also changed her perception from seeing her crisis-affected village as a place of no hope to now a village of hope, promising to make proper use of what she learnt during the training.
Mrs Monica Mallo from Bokkos LGA appreciated the First Lady for her motherly show of love towards the plight of the vulnerable, particularly those in the IDP camps.
Mrs Mallo said they came with a crisis mindset but were returning with peace as a result of the training, adding that over 78 villages in Bokkos were affected by the attacks.
She maintained that Plateau women are resilient and also thanked the First Lady for spending the three days with them at the workshop.
Mrs Mallo further appreciated UNICEF Programme Coordinator and Curriculum Designer, Dr Nosayaba Tukura, and all the facilitators for rekindling their lost hope through their impactful presentations.
Speaking on behalf of the youths, Samson Peter expressed gratitude to the organisers of the training, which he said was apt for them as young people.
Peter added that the skills acquired during the training would further improve their lives as youths.
He pointed out that the training had made it clear that “engaging in sports and listening to music, among others, are some of the ways that youths could come out of trauma.”
Speaking shortly after listening to the participants’ testimonies, Plateau State First Lady, Barrister Mrs Helen Mutfwang, congratulated all the participants for having a successful training workshop and thanked God for the actualisation of the programme.
Mrs Mutfwang appreciated her entire team for working towards the success of the training and urged them to maintain that spirit of teamwork in subsequent workshops.
She said the three-day workshop had undoubtedly brought new life, new beginnings and development to the participants and urged them to put all they had learnt into proper use for the betterment of their families and communities.
The First Lady also reaffirmed Governor Mutfwang’s commitment towards turning the state into a land of milk and honey for all, adding that his administration had already brought lasting change to the state.
She noted that the project was her own initiative and represented only the first phase, adding that more interventions were in the pipeline, as she assured continued support for vulnerable women, girls and youth in the state.
In her remarks, UNICEF Programme Coordinator and Curriculum Designer, Dr Nosayaba Tukura, appreciated the First Lady of Plateau State, Barrister Mrs Helen Mutfwang, for finding them worthy to serve as partners in the laudable project and also thanked the participants for their cooperation throughout the training.
Highlight of the closing ceremony was the symbolic presentation of cash and certificates to the participants.