In August, I visited our work in Ghana with Programme Manager, Melissa Bell – here are my reflections:

This wasn’t my first trip to Ghana. I had worked there previously with World Vision, but it was my first visit in my new role as Deputy CEO of Opportunity International. I was keen to meet some of our partners in-country, to better understand the work and in particular, to visit the kayayei project. The kayayei project was set up in 2019 to provide vocational training and life skills to some of the women working as head-porters known as kayayei (pronounced “kay-ay-eh”), in the markets of Accra. It provides them with skills to develop alternative means of income generation so they can build a more secure, safe and sustainable livelihood.

Their story starts in northern Ghana…

Many of the women and girls who end up as kayayei come from the rural areas of northern Ghana, taking the long trip south to Accra hoping to earn some money. In Tamale, one of the most northern cities, we interviewed a group of about 20 women. Shading from the sun, we asked them whether any of them had been kayayei in Accra, expecting 2 or 3 raised hands – instead they told us that all had been kayayei, often multiple times.  Some of the reasons for this are: lack of education, early child marriage, providing for their children and work ethic (many young women didn't 'want to be idle', they wanted to work).

Working conditions in Accra

After a long journey south (360 miles) these young and vulnerable women arrive in Accra and find work in one of the large central markets. It is estimated that up to 20,000 women are working as kayayei in Ghana. This is grueling work in difficult conditions. Often they start at 4am and work through until 6pm, carrying heavy loads on their heads in large metal bowls; up and down through the markets taking shopping to the cars of wealthy shoppers. We heard how they face daily stigma and discrimination, sometimes not paid, bitten, hit and even raped. If they are lucky they sleep in large dormitories with other kayayei, or stay with family members working in similar roles – but sometimes they are forced to sleep on the streets, or in shop doorways where they are even more vulnerable to physical abuse and sexual exploitation.

(Kayayei group in Accra)

Opportunity International’s support to Kayayei

Opportunity International partner Mohamed (founder of the Kayayei Youth Association of Ghana) works tirelessly to protect and provide for the kayayei. Based on his local knowledge Mohammed identifies the women and girls who can benefit from the vocational training offered by our project.

The four week course is residential, a chance for the participants to escape their current reality and to develop a support network with the other women.

I visited the current cohort of 35 trainees who are being trained in three areas of enterprise considered to provide the best business opportunities; baking, beaded jewellery making (a staple of Ghanaian culture), as well as making soap. In addition, they had learnt financial literacy skills and vital life skills to keep them safe and build their resilience and self-confidence. The theme tune for the group was a song which they sang to motivate each other;

‘I have a talent
I will use my talent
My talent will give me money
And I will save my money in the bank’.

Women of Hope

A key aspect of our trip was to attend the Kayayei Graduation Ceremony, where they collected their certificates and took home a starter-kit for their selected enterprise. The women looked fantastic in their pink Opportunity t-shirts and matching headscarves and an air of celebration hung in the air. Local dignitaries handed out the certificates and the look of pride and joy on the women’s faces was evident for all to see. Afterwards they displayed their wares to those in attendance and I was so impressed by the quality of the goods they had produced; soap, sanitizer, shea butter, breads, biscuits, necklaces and earrings. As I listened to them I decided that I would give them a new name as they stepped out into their new careers, shedding the labels which had been given to them and learning to flourish as entrepreneurs; ‘women of hope’.

  (Trainees showing off their baked goods)

(Beaded jewellery created by some of Kayayei)

Looking to the future

Opportunity has trained over 140 women and girls in the last four years. Whilst some have stayed in Accra to set up successful small businesses, others moved back to their families in the north and were using the skills that they had been taught. Some had used the micro-businesses to enable them to save some money to pay for three-year apprentices as seamstresses and hairdressers. Some had used savings from their businesses to expand and take on trainees. And others were acting as mentors for the new graduates.

This is a critical project, making a real difference to the lives of very vulnerable women. We heard time and time again that what is really needed is for the training to take place in the northern regions of Ghana, to prevent the women having to come to Accra in the first place.  This is challenging, logistically and financially, but one of my Opportunity International colleagues said they are committed to ‘doing whatever is necessary to halt the train of young women travelling south to be kayayei’. 

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To find out more about the women we met, or to play a part in the future of this fantastic project, please contact Mary on [email protected]