By Christian W. Kennedy, christainwkennedy17@gmail.com
The implementing partner of ‘Empowering Small Community Projects’, WOCAP Liberia Inc. is commending its main partners the UNDP-SGP, GEF for the support to improve the livelihoods of Communities in rural Montserrado County and other parts of Liberia .
WOCAP is the acronym for the the Women, Orphans & Abandoned Children Assistance Programme.
In an exclusive interview with this Reporter over the weekend in Lower Johnsonville, its Executive Director Madam. Miatta W. Giddings stated that WOCAP has done a lot to do over the years to assist the Government and people of Liberia in helping to empower the Liberian people with meaningful and sustainable self-help projects.
She said the goup was established right after the Liberian civil war to assist the less fortunate and underprivileged citizens.
The most recent work carried out by her organization was from the United Nations Development Programme Small Grant Project named Empowering Communities to take positive actions against climate change, she said. This project, which started on February 22, 2018, is ongoing and it aims at creating the awareness in Royesville and Peyan Town in Rural Montserrado.
According to the WOCAP Boss, her team began with community awareness; in bringing rural dwellers together at palaver meetings to inform them about UNDP and WOCAP intention to firstly create awareness on climate change and other global changes confronting Africa and the rest of the world.
She said the two-day town hall meetings were encouraging to fast forward the entire Small Grant Program Projects.
The locals have been hailed for their corporation. Dwellers of the Peyan Town recall in the time past they were fooled by some people who visited their homes but never returned. They have commended UNDP/GEF-SGP, WOCAP LIBERA and partners for putting smiles on the faces of rural communities.
The WOCAP team also explained in details to local dwellers and other partners the project concept and what progress has been made through special interactive training in professional vegetables productions, financial management, among other thing.
A total of 120 persons have benefited from the project from the two towns, according to Madam Miatta Giddings.
She noted among projects undertaken was in agriculture, with both men and women benefitting including 67 males andnd 53 females. They receive tools and seeds for planting.
The Royesville and Peyan Town also benefited cassava processing machines, energy saving stoves so that they will stop the cutting down of trees.
The training also discourages the usage of the three stones methods of cooking to enable them save much. She said snail farming maybe a new thing in Liberia but could be a lucrative business, but WOCAP has introduced to the two communities technical skills in managerial snails farming. They carry on their own snail pan on raising and taking care of the snails. Director Giddings lamented today the both town has 20/25 huge boxes of snails and the Liberian people should expect the large snail on the market, especially in the various supermarkets because the residents promise they must work harder to keeping their word.
The Swan-Marca Corporative Society in Bomi County has also been assisted by WOCAP, which was hired to setup their cassava processing factory in Cooper Town where the facility is currently serving. UNDP also gave another contract in Bomi to train locals on how to make their own energy savings lights for rural inhabitants.
Madam Giddings said there are still too many challenges confronting her NGO in securing other projects from other donors.
WOCAP to date has not been able to carry any project to Bong County where she hails from, making her to feel very bad, Madam Giddings said.
But she believes with the needed support s they can leave a milestone in each of the 15 Counties, as she is an active mobile humanitarian worker whose work has no border. And she is willing to serve humanity beyond personal self.
Meanwhile, Madam Miatta W. Giddings has called on donors to sponsor good initiatives that will better the ordinary people, as is better to teach someone to fish then just giving them fish.
In this regard, she said her organization is willing to work with any noble institutions.
She boasted that WOCAP is headed by credible individuals who has the proper understanding of serving humanity with dignity. Besides being the had of WOCAP Liberia Inc, she is also the Communications Officer of WEIL-Women Empowerment Initiatives Liberia as well as Principal of the Heart of Grace School Systems.
Looking back with the cordial relationship amongst the both communities, she hails them for their support and cautioned them of their promises to keep the project sustainable and do more vegetables and cassava productions and take care of the snails to yield more in the future.
When quizzed about how she’s managing to keep things on wheel, Rev. Miatta Watta Giddings smile, saying that her secret comes from God as she keep asking Him for more grace to be honest and truthful.
Speaking on the new things that WOCAP Liberia is intending to do is do a ground-breaking program to build a school for the less privilege children, to cater for girls that needs mentoring so the general public asked to watch out for WOCAP Foundation.
She expressed special thanks to Team-WOCAP in person of the Board Chairman Mr. Edmond C. Smart Jr, who has been very supportive financially and morally, Acedia Darkaysa as Chief Accountant, Assistant Administrator Ms. Horenia Karpa, and Mr. Emmanuel Giddings to widely envisage the ideas of training the beneficiaries. She also commended Mr. Lansana Musah, the Proposal Analyst.