By Ahmed Rufa’i, Dutse
The Save the children international (SCL) in collaboration with Kiyawa local government council has flagged off the training of 8,500 people in Kiyawa local government area in various skills aimed at poverty alleviation for self reliance.
Speaking while launching the programme, the Social Behaviour Change and Media Coodinator of the Integrated Sustainable Childhood Pneumonia and other Infectious Disease Reduction in Nigeria ( INSPIRING) Project sponsored by the Save the Children International, Mr Ibrahim Haruna said the participants at the training were both male and female who were the champions of war against pneumonia campaign in the local government area of the state.
The Coordinator explained that in the last two years, series of training and capacity building were given to the members of pilot communities on how to identify pneumonia and where to seek timely medical intervention.
Haruna disclosed further that, under the INSPIRING PROJECT financed by GSK pharmaceutical company, medical equipments and other related equipments worth hundreds of millions of Naira were distributed to selected primary and tertiary health facilities in the state.
He added that, the community members were clustered in to 340 groups with each group having minimum of 25 persons who worked on public enlightenment on pneumonia, child killer disease, personal and community health.
He stated that, to ensure the sustainability of the training they give to the community they are now giving them economic empowerment training through their own job of choice to enable them have the financial capacity to sustain the community engagement in the absence of Save The Children.
In his speech the Primary Healthcare Clinic’s manager Kiyawa local government Mr. Musa Muhammad Kani said, the impacts of INSPRING project in the area is tremendous, as progress was reflected in all health indices of the area.
One of the community members who was among the participants of the training Garba Umar Markiba said, they are going to use the new ideas they learned to improve their source of livelihood for more income generation.