Economic Growth Ghana Project #55252

The Livelihood Project

by Alliance For African Women Initiative

Project Report | Jan 15, 2024
Project Impact 2023

By Marlene Keller | Deputy Programmes Manager

The AFAWI Livelihood Project creates since 2014 an opportunity for women in Ghana to be financially independent through the distribution of micro-loans with zero or low-interest rate, allowing the women and their families to rise above the poverty line. It further provides workshops and training sessions in financial literacy, gender responsiveness, and health, in order to further women’s education and improve their livelihood for the future. AFAWI also provides a chance to create daily savings accounts for the women, that receive a small amount of interest and encourages further saving for the future.

The year 2023 has been outstandingly successful for the Livelihood Project. Starting with an initial boost through the partnership with Global Citizen last year September, AFAWI was able to get another amazing partner on board this year. We herewith proudly announce that AFAWI was awarded the Lady Godiva Initiative Award at the beginning of this year, as the only African organisation. The award supports our work on the Livelihood Project and therefore gave us the ability to scale up the project immensely. Apart from that, AFAWI received a grant from GlobalGiving dedicated to the Livelihood Project, which was used to support the project in the long term.

In the time between January and November 2023, a total of 114 loans were given out to women, with a total amount of 158,000 GHC being distributed. Furthermore 86 women participated in our training sessions so far.

Links:

More information on this project here

Attachments:

Comprehensive Impact Report (PDF)

1 Attachment

Permalink

Sep 25, 2023
WASH and Covid19 Training

By Marlene Keller | Deputy Programmes Manager

Response from participants

Procedure:

9:00 AM - DEPARTURE: Departure of AFAWI Interns from office in Adenta to GA East Municipal Building

10:00 AM - ARRIVAL: Team arrival at GA East Municipal Building

10:00 AM - 10:05 AM: Set-up projector and presentation and waited for the arrival of the women

10:05 AM - 10:15 AM: Greeted and registered women and passed out questionnaires and handouts

10:15 AM - 10:20 AM: Brief message to the women from Philip about loans and repayments

10:20 AM - 10:40 AM: Kayla and Jennifer went through questionnaire with the women

10:40 AM - 11:30 AM: Presentation on WASH and COVID-19 BEGAN

Kayla began the presentation starting with WASH. The presentation began with the women explaining what they knew about WASH and continued with further information regarding water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as information on certain water-borne illnesses or illnesses caused from bacteria. The presentation then proceeded with information on COVID-19 and handwashing. The women already had a good knowledge of COVID-19 and protocols, so it served as more of a review. The presentation ended with a brief message about the emerging Marburg Virus.

11:30 AM - 11:40 AM: COMPLETION OF TNT FORMS AND LUNCH

Kayla and Becky administered the TNT funds to the women and lunch was served by Naa to all of the women involved.

12:00 PM: DEPARTURE OF AFAWI TEAM TO ADENTA OFFICE

Summary

The fourth Livelihood Training Session on WASH and COVID-19 was a successful and educational session. All of the women who were invited to the training were in attendance, along with several of the women from other groups. The women were not initially aware of what WASH stood for, but after group discussion the words of the acronym were guessed by several of the women. They all had an understanding of the concept and were knowledgeable on different illnesses that can result from unclean drinking water and bacteria. The women were also knowledgeable on ways to prevent these and stay healthy, i.e. handwashing and drinking lots of fluids. The question was raised about what to do if they do not enjoy drinking water, and they were informed of the benefits and necessity of drinking water.

The women were all aware of COVID-19 and protocols and methods to prevent it. Most of the women in the group were vaccinated against COVID-19 as well. We discussed handwashing and the importance of washing your hands for at least 20 seconds and multiple times a day. The question was raised about needing to preserve water, that 20 seconds may be too long and wasteful of water, but it was suggested to turn the tap off while scrubbing hands and then to resume with the water to quickly rinse. At the end we briefly discussed the Marburg Virus to make sure the women were aware of the two cases in Ghana, and we instructed them to visit a hospital if they begin to feel any symptoms and to be on the side of caution.

Links:

More information on this project here

Permalink

May 30, 2023
Training on Gender Roles and Family Planning

By Marlene Keller | Deputy Programmes Manager

Team Members and Participants

Title of Event: Training on Gender roles and responsiveness and Family Planning

Objective: To make sure the women understand what gender stereotypes are and how to be empowered. Additionally, for them to understand how family planning works and the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods of contraceptive.

Venue: Sesame Church – The World of Liberty Ministry

Procedure:

9:00 AM – DEPARTURE: Departure of AFAWI Interns Adenta, Ghana to Sesame Church – The World of Liberty Ministry

09.45– TEAM ARRIVAL AT SESAME CHURCH – THE WORLD OF LIBERTY MINISTRY

10:00-10:30AM – REGISTRATION START WITH SIOBHAN, HANNAH, KAYLA, AND HALA

10:30AM-10:05AM: Kayla begins with an opening prayer.

10:05-11:00AM HANNAH GOES THROUGH THE PRE AND POST QUESTIONNAIRES

11:00-12:00 PM GENDER ROLES AND ROSPONSIVENESS PRESENTATION BEGIN – Hannah starts the presentation and went through stereotypical gender roles and how they are constructed by society. Kayla takes over halfway through and goes through some case study examples and women’s empowerment. Most of the women had a good understanding of what stereotypical gender roles are and had their own thoughts and opinions about them. When Kayla went through the case studies, many of the women were willing to contribute their thoughts about the scenarios given. Throughout the presentation Jennifer translated.

12:00 PM – 13:00 PM – SIOBAN AND HALA BEGIN PRESENTATION ON FAMILY PLANNING

Siobhan and Hala both presented the family planning presentation intermittently. Throughout this presentation a lot of discussion was had over the different types of contraception. Also, a lot of discussion was had over different sexual experiences and partners. The majority of women in this group had the implant so they spoke about whether they had suffered any side effects from it or not. Throughout the presentation Jennifer translated.

13:15 AM – 13:20 PM– CLOSING: One of the women closed the session with a closing prayer.

13:20 AM – 13:30 PM – COMPLETION ON TNT FORMS AND LUNCH: Hala and Jennifer completed the TNT information for the participants. Naa provided lunch to all women and AFAWI team. Then we said goodbye.

14:15 PM – DEPARTURE OF AFAWI TEAM TO ADENTA OFFICE, GHANA

Summary

The third Livelihood training session on Gender Roles and Responsiveness and Family Planning was relatively successful. The reason for this is that the training itself was informative and well-presented, however only eleven out of the twenty women attended and there was a power cut ten minutes into the first presentation. Despite these setbacks, the delivery of information was clear and well understood, and all the women were very attentive and inquisitive. Throughout both presentations, there was a chance for the women to engage by participating in activities and discussions surrounding the topics of the training. The majority of women contributed their thoughts and opinions. The topic which sparked the most debate was the different types of contraception methods; it was nice to see how open the women were when discussing what type of contraception they have used or were using and which methods they would not like to try, e.g female condoms. The women were also provided with information regarding STI’s including how they are transmitted and where to get tested.

From the responses and engagement the women gave towards the end of the gender roles presentation, it clearly showed that they had a good understanding of what gender stereotypes are and how women can be empowered. Additionally, after much discussion surrounding the different contraception methods it seemed like the whole group were now aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

Links:

More information on this project here

Permalink

‹ 1 2 3 4 5 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.