The Livelihood Project

Venue: Abokobi, Ga East Volta Region, Ghana

I. Procedure

- 9:00 AM – DEPARTURE: Departure of AFAWI Interns from Adenta, Ghana to Abokobi, Ga East, Ghana by uber.

-  09.30 AM: TEAM ARRIVAL AT ABOKOBI WOMEN’S CENTRE

- 09:30 AM – 09.45AM: TEAM SET UP

-09:45-11:00 – REGISTRATION: Siobhan, Hannah, Kayla and Hala began registration of the women, Hala took pictures of each of the women to add to their profiles. All women were given the questionnaire on arrival and hand out sheet. Any questions which had been unanswered in the previous session were followed up. Interns Perrine and Amy arrived with Marlene following the cancellation of one of the venues. Naa told all participants to come to Abokobi Womens centre. These women were then grouped into their 10 and sent to the different locations for the training.

11:00-11:10: INTRODUCTION AND OPENING PRAYER:The meeting started with a welcome by Jennifer explaining our plans for the training .Then Jennifer asked one of the women to conduct an opening prayer.

- 11:10 AM – 11:30 AM – ADMINISTRATION TASKS: The projector was set up by Siobhan, Hannah and Kayla. Water was provided to the participants, any additional women at the wrong location were organised and set to the correct groups.  

- 11:30 AM – 11:50 AM– POST FINANCIAL LITERACY QUESTIONNAIRE AND PRE-QUESTIONNAIRE: Siobhan read out the post financial literacy questionnaire and pre malaria, HIV/AIDs questionnaire. Jennifer translated this for the women while the other interns helped the women answer any questions.

-  11:50 AM – 12:00 AM– BALANCE SHEET EXERCISE: Kayla went over the exercise from the Financial Literacy Training Session, in this she looked at balance sheets and checked that the homework had been completed.

-12:00 PM – 12:20 PM – MALARIA TRAINING: Siobhan presented the presentation on Malaria with Jennifer translating the information

-12:20 PM -12:45 PM – HIV/AIDs TRAINING: Hannah presented the presentation on HIV and AIDs with Jennifer translating the information

-12:45 PM -12:50 PM CLOSING PRAYER: Jennifer thanked the women for coming to the training and asked for a closing prayer. One of the women offer a closing prayer and the women sang together.

-12:50 PM – 12:55 PM: PARTICIPANT DEPARTURE: Siobhan and Jennifer completed the TNT form and provided monies to participants along with lunch.

-12:50 PM – 13:20 PM: LUNCH: AFAWI interns and staff ate lunch

-13:20 PM - DEPARTURE OF AFAWI TEAM TO ADENTA OFFICE, GHANA

Summary

The conduct of the second training for the Livelihood Project can be seen as a successful training day. Of the 20 anticipated women, only 11 were present at the second training. Whilst this is disappointing the content of the session was seen as successful and highlighted a positive response from the previous training and learnt skills displayed. The session included and initial prayer led by Jennifer and a small reflection on the previous financial literacy. Here it was evident the participants had reflected on the Financial Literacy session and had used the Balance Sheets within their own businesses. The training session started quiet busy, however, once the presentations began the women were very engaged, answering questions and showing interest. The consensus from the training was that most of the women were aware of Malaria and HIV/AIDs but were not as aware of all the precautions to take to help prevent infections.

Links:

• Check our website for more information on our work

Title of Event: First Financial Literacy Training Abokobi

Objective: To offer the first training in Financial Literacy to the 40 participants in the Livelihood Project  

Team: Philip Kwesi Agyei, Jennifer Gasu (Programmes Manager), Marlene Keller (Deputy Programmes Manager), Naa Adjeley (Field coordinator, AFAWI), Interns: Emma Ridley, Hala Mobaydeen, Viktoria Kuszak, Perrine Maillot, Siobhan Wainwright, Kayla Fillipovich, Hannah Pain . 

Present: Philip Kwesi Agyei, Jennifer Gasu (Programmes Manager), Marlene Keller (Deputy Programmes Manager), Naa Adjeley (Field coordinator, AFAWI), Interns: Emma Ridley, Hala Mobaydeen, Viktoria Kuszak, Perrine Maillot, Siobhan Wainwright, Kayla Fillipovich, Hannah Pain, 

I. Procedure

- 9:00 AM – DEPARTURE: Departure of AFAWI Interns Adenta, Ghana to Abokobi, Ga East, Ghana by uber.

-  09.35– TEAM ARRIVAL AT ABOKOBI WOMEN’S CENTRE 

- 09:40AM – TEAM LEFT ABOKOBI POLICE STATION TO MEET AT NEW MEETING PLACE, SESEAME CHURCH, THE WORLD LIBERTY MINISTRY

10:00-10:30AM – REGISTRATION START WITH EMMA, SIOBHAN, HANNAH AND PERRINE. KYALA, HALA AND VICKY SET UP PROJECTOR 

10:30-10:45 MARLENE PHILIP AND PERRINE INTRODUCE THE TEAM: :The meeting started with a welcome by Philip explaining our plans for the presentation and an introduction to the team. Then Philip asked one of the women to conduct an opening prayer. 

10:45-11:15AM COMPLETION OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE:Philip and Perrine read out the questionnaires in Twi and English, the rest of the interns help with the writing of answers with the women. 

11:15 AM – 13:10PM – BEGIN PRESENTATION: Philip begins the presentation introducing AFAWI and Financial Literacy. The women split into groups of 5 to help chose a leader within each group. Kayla discussed the need for a business plan within businesses. Hala introduced the Balance sheet and used the example to demonstrate how this is beneficial. Vicky introduced bookkeeping and Philip concluded the presentation discussing savings. Throughout the presentation Philip translated any English to help understanding. 

-  13:15 AM – 13:20 PM– CLOSING: Philip closed the meeting by thanking the women for coming and Marlene informed everyone we would be in touch with the next training date. Philip asked again one of the women to offer a closing prayer. Then we said goodbye. 

- 13:20 AM – 13:30 PM – COMPLETION ON TNT FORMS AND LUNCH: Naa and Siobhan completed the TNT information for the participants. Naa provided lunch to all women and AFAWI team. 

- 14:15 PM – DEPARTURE OF AFAWI TEAM TO ADENTA OFFICE, GHANA

Summary

The first Financial Literacy training was proven as a success from start to finish. All four topics were covered as planned: Business Planning, Balance Sheets, Bookkeeping and Savings. 

Philip introduced the session engaging the women with different activities and an opening prayer. All women participated in the group exercise throughout the presentation. The women showed interest to learn and willing to ask questions. The main understanding from the session was that most of the women did not have an intended business plan, yet after discussion and examples, the women realised, they each had their own plan and goals. Throughout the presentation the women were provided the tools and skills to be able to implement Business Planning, Balance Sheets, Bookkeeping and Savings into their businesses.

On Wednesday 25th May, the AFAWI team conducted a needs assessment session at Abokobi Women's Centre in Ga East Volta Region, Ghana. 

The introductory needs assessment went very well. 15 women attended the meeting and each of them successfully completed the questionnaire with the guidance from AFAWI team members. 

The women all appeared to be engaged throughout the session and they seemed excited at the prospect of receiving loans to help them grow their businesses.

Most of the women who were interviewed had received at least a basic education, and those that have children said that they send them to private schools. The majority of women have either husbands or partners who help them to support the family, as well as the running of the household.

However, many of the women also provide for someone else, i.e., their mothers, and they often receive unexpected expenses, which affects their overall income. Therefore, receiving a loan would help to relieve their financial pressure.

You are able to find the full report, as well as some photographs below.

Best wishes,

Emma Ridley (AFAWI Assistant)

Links:

• AFAWI's Livelihood Project

• Livelihood Project - Needs Assessment Report (PDF)
  

Content of the Workshop

The workshop was a financial literacy training. The women learned how to create a business plan and a balance sheet, how to do bookkeeping and about savings. They received lectures on these topics and some additional exercises.

II. Procedure 10 AM:

Meeting at the venue Firstly, the registration of the participants and the distribution of the questionnaire was carried out by Valerie and Marie o If help was needed with the comprehensibility, Marie and Valerie assisted in filling in the form It has been asked who was present at the first training about financial literacy and briefly explained why Leticia, one of the women, is new in this group o Leticia is a young single mother and wants to gain more knowledge about business running, so that she could start one on her own She was sent by ministry of gender, children and social protection Then Marlene started the training around 10:30 AM with a short introduction of herself and the Team as well as the agenda for the day The women prayed all together before the beginning of the training. Afterwards Philip took over the presentation about business plan, balance sheet and bookkeeping o To make it more clear Philip did some exercises with the women Marlene did the rest of the presentation about savings and Naa did the translation so that the women could easily follow the lecture At the end Valerie and Marie distributed the printed summaries to the women Finally, Naa gave out the lunches to the women before they left around 1 PM During the whole workshop, Marlene and Marie were taking photos and videos and Valerie wrote down notes for the report 4 AFAWI – Farm Project 12.04.2022 Findings Information Sheet

III. Findings

1. Summary Everyone except Letica is already running a business. Of which some were food shops or restaurants. 70% of the women think their business is going well (very good/good). For the main challenges in their business, two women stated that the location of their shop isn’t good, and one said that she doesn’t keep records of her income and expenses, but 63% said that everything is good. Most of the women already knew what a business plan or balance sheet is or what bookkeeping means. All the women said that they are already saving money per week. 55% of the women declared, that they were hoping to gain more knowledge at the financial literacy training, the remaining 45% wanted to share their knowledge. 73% had already attended a programme on financial literacy training. Most of the women replied, that they will use the loan for trading or to put in their business.

• Livelihood_Report_07.04.2022.pdf (PDF)