In line with the celebration of International Women’s month, TESDA-Benguet in partnership with INAluyon-Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center-Women and Children Protection Unit (BGHMC-WPCU) and the Baguio City School of Arts and Trades (BCSAT) trained 25 women who are victims of domestic violence for three days in Bread making-dough, and food processing through face-to-face under the Community-Based Program at the BCSAT Hotel on March 9-11, 2022.
The project aims to equip women with knowledge and livelihood skills that they can utilize to start small-scale businesses for themselves, develop financial independence, and empower women through employability.
TESDA has been providing special skills training for women to empower them and expand their opportunities for social and economic development.
Meanwhile, INAluyon is a Women’s Support Group of Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center-Women and Children Protection Unit (BGHMC-WPCU) for physically and mentally abused women. The BGHMC-WPCU in their holistic approach to case management offers services to these women in aid of their healing and recovery. However, during this pandemic, access to these services halted.
The group INAluyon was created in response to the challenge of providing psychosocial care to women victims of violence amidst the pandemic. Most of the trainees have experienced physical and /or sexual violence from their partner or any perpetrator.
“The INAluyon group had a proposal with TESDA Benguet and when we saw their client type we immediately partnered with them,” said TESDA Benguet Provincial Director Jimmicio S. Daoaten.
The beneficiaries expressed their gratitude to TESDA for the livelihood skills training they learned that may benefit them to have better employment opportunities that could provide additional income for them and their families.
“With this new skill you taught us it will help us to find a job and start a small business, some of us may have been hurt but we cannot be broken because women are a diamond tougher than nails and a jewel in the rock, a woman is made of steel, you can bend her but she will never be broken,” said one of the trainees.
PD Daoaten in his message said that TESDA extends their full support, especially for them, and urged them and their families to avail TESDA scholarship programs that will upskill them for free for the betterment. He also assured the trainees that the partnership between TESDA and INAluyon will continue.
(Source: TESDA-Benguet)