Grantee stories
New skills offers hope to disadvantaged women
New Skills for Women, (NSW) is a non-profit organisation established to create opportunities for women to empower themselves economically by embarking on income generating activities. It is focused on training and skills building for young women and girls especially from disadvantaged backgrounds in bead-making, hairdressing and tie-dye.With support from African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), NSW has set up a vocational center in the outskirts of Accra. Situated in Madina Osolongo area in a spacious, serene, homey setting, the center has a training room, bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom; all modestly furnished. This boarding facility offers solace for women and girls, develops their confidence and communication skills and provides hands on skills in bead work, hairdressing and tie-dye. The center equips the girls for their future lives instilling in them hard work and confidence. The centre in December 2007 celebrated the passing out of its first batch of graduates. AWDF’s support enabled the centre to provide, in addition to the training, start up equipment, a modest capital and transportation back home to a group of former shrine slaves from the Volta Region.“I want to thank God, Auntie Fortune (trainer) for bringing us here and Auntie Duro (Executive Director of New Skills for Women) for the great work in our lives. Many have not had it this way. By training and providing us with start up kits, she has secured our daily bread for the future,” says Rejoice Baka, a 17- year old beneficiary.“I thank God and all who have made this training possible. I want to thank all who looked after us while we were in Accra. May God bless and replenish all that everyone, including AWDF, has spent on us,” says Beatrice Akpaku, 21 years and a beneficiary.
Our lives have improved – Korye Women’s Group
For members of the Korye Women’s Palm Oil Processing Group, change means a decent work area, having their own pots and technology and equipment that make their oil processing business less tedious.All this group of mainly illiterate but hardworking women had at the beginning, was an open space on a piece of land that did not belong to them and great determination to make a difference in their lives and that of their families.With no cooking pots of their own, these women borrowed pots and other utensils to further their ambition of producing palm oil to generate some income. The process was slow, laborious and expensive, as they did not have the appropriate equipment to work with and also were at the mercy of the weather.AWDF provided a grant for the group to buy a plot of land and build a shed, acquire their own pots and other equipment that lessened the drudgery of the palm oil processing. AWDF’s support also provided for literacy classes for the members.As a result of the support, the group experienced an increase in their income, with which it purchased a squeezer, to further enhance its oil processing.So impressive was their performance that AWDF has assisted them to purchase and install an oil processing machine to further improve the quality of their work.AWDF’s support has enhanced the group’s leadership and management and instilled a sense of ownership and decision making in its members. It has also opened opportunities for them to benefit from training programmes from other organisations. The group has also gained visibility and its membership has increased as a result.
Abantu sets the gender agenda on radio
ABANTU for Development Regional Office for Western Africa (ROWA) initiated Gender Forum, a weekly radio program that is broadcast every Thursday at 1:30 pm on Uniq FM of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. This program was initiated with the aim of establishing a forum where issues of development could be discussed from a gender perspective, with the view of promoting gender equality and transformational change in the Ghanaian society. The radio program had a number of target groups who were expected to be the main beneficiaries. These included: Women’s rights activists, policy makers, non governmental organisations, private organisations and grassroots organisations.Through the African Women’s Development Fund’s support the Gender Forum programme, recorded a number of achievements.
ABANTU successfully hosted 51 radio discussion programs on critical issues of gender and policy lasting for one and half hours every Thursday (1:30-3.00 pm) from one year. The discussions centered on topics such as gender and poverty, gender and governance, gender and conflict and gender and ICTs.
The Gender Forum discussions received a wide coverage with the support of Uniq FM.
Through the program, more than 95 women and men knowledgeable in gender and development issues gained visibility through the airwaves, providing the public with relevant information on gender and policy advocacy issues.
It provided a platform to encourage the women stand for elections and also for some women candidates and other activists to discuss the importance of their involvement in politics and to ask the public for support. Those women who stood for the election were given the chance through the program to tell the public what they intend to do if they are voted into power. When the election was over and evaluation was done, most of the women who won said the exposure given to them on the program contributed to their victory.
ABANTU’s organizational capacities and strategic planning skills were enhanced through hosting the programme.
