Last month saw the culmination of our Transition to Work project with our Ghanaian partner, Street Girls Aid, based in the south of Accra. Their unwavering commitment to empowering girls with tools for personal and economic growth is changing lives and fostering resilient livelihoods.
In January 2023, 20 women enrolled on our 12-month Transition to Work project with our Ghana partner Street Girls Aid (SGA), a follow-on from our vocational training course in tailoring which started in 2021. Equipped with technical skills, business and marketing skills, start-up tailoring kits and business grants, the graduates from the project are now moving away from the training centre in Accra and out into communities to start their own businesses.
Members of the SGA team set out on a road trip to see how three new tailoring enterprises are coming along.
Pretty Em’s Collection
Emefa in her shop
In Adidome, in the Volta region, the team checked in on Emefa. Before joining our vocational training project in 2021, Emefa had no qualifications and no means of earning an income or saving, but she already had a clear vision for her future. She told us “I would like to complete my tailoring training and have my own business.” Now, with an NVTI Proficiency Level 1 qualification, business skills and a business grant supported by Tools for Self Reliance, Emefa has achieved her goal, establishing ‘Pretty Em’s Collection’.
Pretty Em’s Collection, Adidome
Emefa is confident that her business will do well. She said, “I understand the importance of budgeting and planning expenditure, keeping records for my business so I know if am making profit or loss, and good marketing strategies to help attract customers for my business.”
In a one month period, Emefa is earning between GH₵ 101-250 and is already reaching 16-20 customers. She said “I am able to sew lots of dresses and have been able learn different style on my own with the skills I received, even online.” As her business grows, Emefa is hoping to increase her skill set further and reach a wider audience. She says “I want to learn to sew men’s clothing too.”
Babe Fashion
Comfort outside her shop, Babe Fashion, Loloto
Next, the SGA team travelled to Loloto to visit Comfort. She was busy with the installation of a new industrial sewing machine. Like Emefa, Comfort had to leave education early due to financial pressures. In Accra, she joined the SGA project which provided secure accommodation, meals and the skills she desired to give direction to her life. In 2021 she told us, “in five years time it is my wish to have a well establish fashion shop, but my challenge is the start-up capital to get a space for the shop.” Just three years on, and with the help of her business start-up grant, Comfort has been able to rent a space and open ‘Babe Fashion’. Her business is going well. She said, “In the last month my business has earned GH₵ 101-250 and I have lots of customers. I can manage my income so I will spend rightly and make my business grow.” Comfort is delighted with her new shop. She said “I am able to work on my own without any help and also I am earning my own money.”
DBE Clothing
DBE Clothing, Adenta
Machine installation
Lastly, the SGA team visited Adenta, in the Greater Accra Region. Here, graduates Diana, Beauty and Esther have rented and furnished a shop and are working together in a small group, ‘DBE Clothing. Beauty left school because her parents were unable to afford the school fees. Unable to finish her education, she came to Accra in search of work, but was only able to sell petty items, earning Ghs 30 per day. At 19 years old, she joined our tailoring project with SGA. She said, ” I wanted to do something for my life and to learn a skill and so this came as an opportunity.”
Esther and Beauty at the SGA training centre, Accra
Esther and her boyfriend moved to Accra from the Eastern region, but after their relationship ended, she was left to look after their baby. Asked what her motivation was for learning tailoring, she said “I wanted to earn an income from it to be able to provide for myself and my son”. Esther explained how having a child care facility at the SGA training centre helped her with her learning. She said, “I was able to focus on my training because the creche facility took care of my child for me.”
Diana joined the tailoring project aged 18. With a young daughter, but no means of earning or saving, she was anxious about her future. When she heard about our project through her church, she was eager to join. She said, “I wanted to do something for my life and to learn a skill and so this came as an opportunity.” Looking back she says, “I learned many things and the trainer took her time to explain when I did not understand. Now I have my NVTI certificate. I have learnt a lot of useful things for my life.”
The girls explained that with their business planning skills, they will be able to calculate how much money they will need each month for their business and for themselves. Diana said “The business is young, working with two other members in one shop it’s been good so far. In the last month the business has earned GH₵ 251-500 and we have reached between 1 and 5 customers.”
We wish our graduates every success in building their business ventures and look forward to sharing more stories with you in the future.
Projects such as these would not be possible without you. If you would like to support our life-changing projects, please click here to give a one-off gift or set up a regular donation. Thank you.
February 2024
