Fund Sewing Skills for Women in South Africa

Dear Supporters,

Early 2020 has arrived! No longer a local mum’s club, the Ghana women’s economic empowerment project has expanded to enjoy a wonderful variety of Kokrobite’s diverse residents. From fisherwomen to street vendors, preachers, business owners and housekeepers, all have come to learn and enjoy a new curriculum of classes and workshops in the company of their fellow women. 

Having initiated a community mobilisation effort, staff and volunteers have brought onboard 90 participants over the first few months of 2020. Many of these women have few career options and very little in the way of earning capacity. Even for those who have received an education it can be incredibly difficult to create lasting, meaningful progression through life. For some their family, their household and Kokrobite is all they will have ever known. 

In order to address some of the short-term financial issues, new vocational workshops have been implemented to give the ladies a chance to practice or learn a potential career skill. So far the women have covered a number of recipes for catering and street vending which can supply a quick source of income and the possibility of a future business. Being unable to read let alone access books or the internet means that many women have few opportunities to learn new cooking techniques, especially when it comes to baked goods like breads and cakes. We have had an excited response to these workshops as learning more specialist recipes translates to having a good day selling on the high street. Further vocational classes have been teaching the first building blocks of jewellery making and beading work. West Africa of course has a history of using these handcraft skills to create intricate heritage products and the women have taken quickly to forming 3D shapes and complex patterns. 

To ensure that our ladies are making sustainable progress and to address the limited education they have received, volunteers have been delivering English and IT lessons covering everything from simple spelling to Excel spreadsheets. Being an anglophone country means an inability to read and write in English drastically reduces most economic opportunities, whilst having an understanding of technology and how to harness the power of computing or the connections of the internet is giving the women a great advantage in Ghana’s future economy. It is our hope to further these classes by initiating practical and theoretical business lessons, mixed with financial planning and money management in order to develop the skills required for embarking upon small enterprise and entrepreneurship.

After the success and popularity of the vocational workshops we are very much looking to expand their capacity with an increase in skills offerings and to provide nationally recognised accreditation for the women who complete the program. We would love to provide courses for a wider variety of professions potentially including textile work and garment construction, catering and food handling, events decoration and management, beautician and hairdressing work or the creation of local wellbeing products such as skin oils, creams and soaps. To provide this knowledge we will need funding to supply local teachers, with the necessary specialist equipment or materials, who could then operate from our new workshop space in our compound. Donations to provide metallic cookery surfaces, sewing machines, clothing production supplies, hair training manikins and hygiene equipment would be tremendously beneficial in providing the skills needed for employment to those who cannot afford lengthy internships or technical schooling. These types of professions address those who have been unable to receive a suitable education and are in desperate need of experience and practical learning. 

Further funding would be much welcomed for computing equipment for the IT courses. Several more robust laptops with up-to-date programs and permanent internet availability would further increase our student capacity. Whilst access to professional print facilities with quality papers and lamination would be exceptionally useful for the ladies as they create labels and advertisements for their businesses. 

Looking to the post-COVID-19 Ghanaian economy our local ladies will be feeling the financial strains more than ever and will be needing all the education and practice they can receive. Maintaining a safe learning environment will mean greatly reducing our capacity, yet none the less scaled down lessons will be pushing forward in enhancing employability, financial stability and long term educational development and gender equality.

Thank you to all our generous donors for your continued support.

With Gratitude,

Ghana Communtiy

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