Country: Ghana

At age 12, Zelufatu was facing a forced marriage to an older man, so she left for Accra to work as a kayayei, going from one vulnerable situation to another. She joined our programme, which gave her a safe place to stay and training in business, finance and life skills. Zelufatu has now moved back to northern Ghana where she makes and sells clothes. The income from this helps her send her child to school.

Zelufatu was barely into her teens when her father wanted her to marry a much older man. But she did not want to marry someone so much older than herself and joined some friends heading to Accra.

For six months she worked in the kayayei business (female head porters). Life is hard for kayayei, the hours are long, the load sometimes heavy, the pay is unsteady and they are often subject to abuse and harassment.  

With the money Zelufatu was making, she had to buy food and use it to pay to for WASH facilities.

She was offered a place on Opportunity's vocational training programme, which gave her a safe place to eat, sleep and wash, plus she received a stipend.

At the vocational centre, Zelufatu received training in practical skills, including soap making, bead making and baking, and in life skills, including hygiene, women’s reproductive health and family planning. To help her establish herself with a business afterwards, she was given training in financial literacy and was provided with a startup kit in her chosen business.

For a month after graduating she stayed in Accra, selling beadwork to raise some money. She then returned home to Duu, in northern Ghana, where she wanted to start a business that would provide for her whole family. However, her father still wanted her to marry the same man.

She felt her only option was to marry a man she was interested in and someone closer to her age. At the age of 14, she got married to someone she chose. They have one child together.

In Duu, where she lives with her husband and child, she started to sell soap and beads. With the money saved from this, she was able to buy a second-hand sewing machine and is currently in a dressmaking apprenticeship. She sews dresses for girls, but hopes to learn how to make men’s clothes too.

Zelufatu dreams of setting up her own dressmaking business that will earn enough got her to send her child, and any future children, to school.  

Opportunity has worked with over 300 kayayei like Zelufatu, helping these vulnerable young women to find a better life. We hope to give more kayayei the opportunity to break free from poverty.