November 18, 2021
By Audrey John
The Iranian Embassy in Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs have held a workshop of training of trainers on handicraft in the creative industry at Family Kingdom, Aberdeen in Freetown.
During her previous engagements with the Iranian Ambassador to Sierra Leone, the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Memunatu Pratt asked Ambassador Akbar Khosravinez had to talk with experts in Iran to train women in the tourism and cultural industry on handicraft skills.
It was against this backdrop that the Iranian Ambassador went to Iran and convinced four female Iranian instructors on handicraft to come to Sierra Leone to train 50 women from across the country on different handicraft skills.
The four female Iranian handicraft instructors are training already trained handicraft trainers on ten different subject using wood, cotton and materials that are available in Sierra Leone. The training would last for ten days, 16th-25th November, 2021.
In his opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Andrew L. Sorie stated that the event was the fruits of bilateral relationship between two countries with a long history of cooperation. He said our artisans who ply their trade in the creative industry have been invited to learn from high profile professionals and use the acquired skills to elevate our cultural expressions meaningfully in our arts and handicrafts, thereby increasing their earning capacities.
Giving the purpose of the workshop, the Director of Culture Foday Jalloh intimated that there has been a long standing cultural cooperation between Iran and Sierra Leone which had led the National Dance Troop to participate at a festival in Iran. He said the ten-day event aimed at kick-starting creative training with international expertise for our women that are already involved in arts and handicraft.
In her remarks, the Lead Trainer from Iran, Sosan Nikzat said she was excited to be in Sierra Leone to complement the efforts of the Iranian Ambassador in strengthening the bilateral relationship between the two countries by exchanging ideas that will benefit Sierra Leone.
In his statements, the Iranian Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Akbar Khosravinez had expressed delight at the opening of the Iranian handicraft training to Sierra Leonean women. He said during the training, women will be taught how to make different handicrafts which will create job opportunities of the trainees and boost the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
Delivering the keynote address, the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Memunatu Pratt remarked that the relationship between the two countries spans for decades, during which cooperation and support for various sectors and diverse fields are abound, saying that this particular programme to train a pool of trainers for practitioners in the creative industries is but very unique and timely.
She continued that the training would bring enormous socio-economic benefits, boost the middle-level manpower of our cities and in the creative industry, and improve service delivery for cultural property and artifacts that will be sold to tourists. She added that the significance of the aforementioned deliverables cannot be overemphasized particularly at a time when government had placed the tourism sector in tier two for economic diversification using culture and the creative industries as the lever for this drive.
She on behalf of the government and people of Sierra Leone thanked the Iranian Ambassador for making this a reality. She called on the trainees to treat the exercise with seriousness before officially declaring the ten-day training programme open.
The Cuban Ambassador, Deputy Minister of Local Government, Head of TVET programme, the General Manager of the National Tourist Board and representative from the Milton Margai University were all in attendance. Exhibition of arts and handicrafts from Iran and Sierra Leone climaxed the occasion.