Empower Marginalized Young Women in Ghana

During our recent graduation I was standing at the side of the stage listening to one of our young women, Felicia, talk about the impact that the ABAN Women’s Empowerment program has had on the students’ lives. Felicia’s talk was unscripted; she simply stood up to share her views, and she looked out over the sea of familiar faces of family and community members, and she told them “It is hard! We work hard.” I liked Felicia’s honesty.

Felicia’s name is often at the top of the list when we rank our graduates. Unlike most of our students, her story has more positive elements. At 22, Felicia came into ABAN with a higher level of education than her peers. She had the support of her family – both parents. Felicia even had a job in Tema once. And that’s where her story goes awry. Because that’s where she met a man who made promises, got her pregnant, and then deserted her. The premature birth of her son added to her predicament, having to meet his special needs.

Living in poverty and without prospects, Felicia felt a sense of hopelessness. But in her ABAN recruitment interview, we could see that beyond the hurt, the disappointment and the frustration, Felicia also had a resolute determination to make her life better, and to make sure that baby Prince could survive his first year.

After six months at ABAN, we could see a difference in Felicia’s life. Most important, little baby Prince began to recover and flourish. And Felicia was freed up to focus on learning. Sometimes we had to prompt her to push herself in class, to take on the more complex case studies, and to demand more of herself. But she showed herself to be a capable leader, helping the other young women around her to tackle their class assignments.

Felicia also thrived in our learn-to-earn initiatives. As soon as she found out that she would be paid to collect and wash sachet bags, Felicia enlisted the help of her family members who were unemployed back at home. While she studied, they helped gather sachets for her. In April alone she managed to earn over $100 – money that went back into supporting her parents and siblings.

It was therefore a logical choice for us to ask Felicia to join one of ABAN’s sales events. In May, we were invited to showcase our products and program at the TEDxSpintexWomen event that was being held at the British Council in Accra. To our mind, this represented a wonderful opportunity for Felicia to see a different side of life, to engage with other young women who have succeeded in business and the arts, who could potentially serve as role models.

On May 30th, just over a month from when I had watched Felicia on our graduation stage, I stood next to her at the TEDx event. We were outside the auditorium, looking through the windows as they set up the stage for a young speaker. I asked Felicia to come into the hall to listen to the TED talk. In that moment I noticed her awkwardness, her shyness… and I understood. It was the fear of that bigger unknown stage on which we are expected to perform in life. Felicia, who had boldly taken the stage at the ABAN event, felt uneasy to walk into the midst of other young women at this event who represented a higher level of achievement, a stage of greater success in society and in life.

I urged Felicia to join me, and she came and sat beside me quietly, and together we watched Amina Ismail Daru take the stage. Amina told her story. How she had escaped a forced marriage at the age of twelve, and how she had set up the Achievers Club to help other young girls like herself in the slums of Nima in Accra, to change their future through education.

At the end of the talk, I told Felicia, that’s the stage I want to see her on one day, where she is telling her story of how she has impacted the lives of other young women in our ABAN program. Because if there is one thing I believe firmly about Felicia, it’s that she has within her the resolve to overcome fear and to step out onto center stage when her time comes.