By Vasinatta Yama – EMTV News, Mt Hagen
Mercy Works, a society from the Catholic Church which engages with marginalized people, is supporting youths in Western Highlands Province to get involved in agro farming.
Many of them are drug addicts, school students, and are unemployed.
Among the youths is a Public Servant who, for the first time, will harvest his bulb onions worth thousands of kina.
Many of the youths have attended numerous workshops with Mercy Works and have developed skills to plant cash crops, such as bulb onions to grow and earn a living.
This morning some of the youths from the Komkui area of Hagen Central Electorate were given 5000 bulb onion seedlings each, chemicals to help their growth, green nets, and hands-on training on ways to do nursery and planting of onion.
Among the unemployed youths is the Ombudsman Commission Highlands Regional Manager, Bill Kapen.
Kapen has been attending workshops with the youths and is giving them moral support to be more involved in farming to sustain their living.
For Kapen himself, he has his own reasons to be employed and at the same time farm. One of his foremost reasons is to relief work pressure, and since he has limited free time, he is doing farming as an exercise.
Bill is ready to harvest his onion and is looking at making close to K5000.
Mercy Works is providing technical skills and support to help improve the lives of these marginalized youths.
Isaach Wup sees no opportunity in life and was heavily involved in drinking homebrew and smoking marijuana. After Mercy Works identified him and involved him in agro farming, he is a changed man.
Mercy Works has identified markets for them to grow and sell their fresh produce.
Their plea is for the government and the working class to provide opportunities for such people and give them a second chance in life.
