Enliven Mama Africa Step One - Victory

      
           
 December 1, 2014 marks the largest day of accomplishment yet for Enliven Mama Africa. Maxwell Donkor, the EMA Director in Ghana, went to Besease and saw 14 single mothers be matriculated into the seamstress program of the Integrated Community Center for Employable Skills. The women and the community were overjoyed. I (Sarah Bibbey, the EMA Director in the USA), was able to witness their joy over Skype.

For me, the most beautiful part of the experience was hearing from the women I have known since the beginning. Rosina, Mavis, and Mary all gave me a touching personal thank you. It is because of the strength and determination I see in them that I have had the will to continue this project at all. I met them on an average afternoon in March 2013, and they shook my entire world. These women are ready to begin learning a new skill, something that can never be taken from them. They have waited long enough.

Please, if you are reading this, take a moment to celebrate. I thank you all for your generous support. You have supported Enliven Mama Africa financially, or you have supported me emotionally and spiritually. Thank you for sticking with us, though it's taken a year and a half to arrive here.

Also, as you celebrate, realize that our work is not finished. These 14 women have just begun their journey of learning, and we mean to stick by each and every one of them. 14 is a large number, but it is not nearly half of the single mothers in Besease alone, let alone the Ashanti region, Ghana, Africa, and even the world. We are in the progress of making a difference, and we've accomplished our vital first step.

The Power of Community 2 (Thank you, Besease!)

Fourteen single mothers will begin learning the seamstress trade next week (written November, 2014). When Maxwell and I began visiting these women in March of 2013, we were eager, but we lacked vision. We couldn't tell the women exactly what we had to offer. Concretely, at the time, we had nothing. Not a name, not a mission statement, and certainly not money.

We let the program be shaped by what we heard from the women. Enliven Mama Africa was born of scheming and compiling what we'd heard, what we dreamed of, and what was feasible. That early stage was made possible by the ideas and insight of my dear friends Nans, Lydia, and Mavis. Those conversations compelled me to rethink my entire future.

Because Enliven Mama Africa was created mostly inside a large volunteer house in West Kumasi by a few Ghanaians and three teenage obrunis, I was sometimes afraid that it was too far removed from Besease to be real to the community's needs. We spent so much more time in the office than in the field that I was concerned it was becoming our personal idea.

This feeling was intensified by comments I heard back here in Colorado. Some of the comments were just rude ("Why would you go exert your privilege?" "What are you, an imperialist?"), but others made me think, such as: "How do you know that this is the right project for these women?" "How do you know it's what they really want?"

As Besease prepared to get the women involved in learning trades, community members stepped up and offered to make desks and chairs for the women. The community offered an empty building for the women to learn. Enliven Mama Africa is a project the community of Besease is excited about. This compounds my excitement, because I know there are people throughout rural Ghana interested in the cause of single mother employment.

The Power of Community (Thank You ICCES!)

Meeting between ICCES, the Besease Community, and the Women

Since I left Ghana in July, the real work of Enliven Mama Africa has been occurring. No longer is Enliven Mama Africa about an obruni (white) girl and a Kumasi man talking to random single mothers in Besease.


Enliven Mama Africa is about the community of Besease. Enliven Mama Africa is about the wider community of Atwima, the district due west of Kumasi.

I lived in the Atwima District for a year, in the town of Boko. However much I write about Besease, Kumasi-town, and Nkawie, Boko is my home. Between Boko and Besease, there is a town called Twedie. Twedie is the home of a school called the Integrated Community Center for Employable Skills (ICCES).

Rosina Kwateng and her son, Christian

ICCES has offered Enliven Mama Africa their services. Five days a week, a teacher will travel from Twedie to Besease to teach 14 single mothers seamstress skills. ICCES is also providing chairs for the women to use during lessons. The benefits of ICCES are many: they will offer the women an official certificate, they are well-established in the Atwima District, and they teach five days a week, with school-time vacations.

I am astounded by the generosity of ICCES and their desire to partner with us. Because of ICCES, these women have the opportunity to receive a formal trade education.

We Will Not Stop

Elizabeth Osei and her daughter

The question I get almost daily about our efforts in Ghana is this: "West Africa, huh? What about Ebola?"

What about Ebola indeed? The virus has not been reported in Ghana to date. Research states that Ghana is at a high risk for Ebola. A few volunteer programs have already  cancelled their program trips to Ghana because of the threat.

I understand volunteers not wanting to travel during this time, but I grieve for the work that will be lost because of it. Even more than that, I grieve for the people who lose the opportunity to visit Ghana, a country that has changed the hearts of many.

As there has been no reported case of Ebola in Ghana, the Global Leaders trip is still on. If there is a case, the trip will be cancelled. I will be disappointed that this piece of Enliven Mama Africa's work cannot go through.

But if the virus comes, if the trip is cancelled, it won't stop the fact that 14 single mothers will be enrolled in trade school. It won't stop the supportive efforts the Integrated Community Center for Employable Skills and the Besease community have shown to the women striving to better

Ebola has caused much suffering in Liberia, Sierra Leon, and Guinea. If the virus were to come to Ghana, efforts to make communities stronger, efforts like Enliven Mama Africa, would be needed more than ever.

We will not stop. 14 single mothers are eager to be enrolled in trade education. An entire community is coming together to provide a room, tables, and chairs for their young women to be educated.

We will not stop. 14 single mothers are prepared to invest time into their future and the future of their families.

We will not stop. Enliven Mama Africa is strengthening Besease, whether I am there physically or not.

Besease Community Members

A Joyous Meeting

Besease Community Meeting
October 2014

In mid-October, Maxwell (EMA director in Ghana) organized a meeting in Besease, the village where we are piloting Enliven Mama Africa. Those who joined included fourteen single mothers, the village chief and his elders, teachers from the Integrated Community Center for Employable Trade, and much of the Besease community at large. Eleven of those single mothers came to me every time I visited Besease in July 2014. These eleven will be studying on the Enliven Mama Africa budget raised in March of 2014. The three new women have been added to our program thanks to a generous donation from the Rotary Club in the UK. All fourteen women will begin learning in early November. The Besease community, including the chief, is excited about the opportunity Enliven Mama Africa presents to these mothers. Best of all, Enliven Mama Africa has made the decision to partner with the Integrated Community Center for Employable Trade, located in nearby Twedie. A certified seamstress teacher will travel to Besease and teach the fourteen women every weekday.

Sarah, Elizabeth, Ruth, Perpetual, Martha, and Mary
July 2014

To make this possible, the community donated an unused building. Maxwell and the community are now working to renovate the building. All fourteen mothers have received their school uniforms. When the building is complete, Enliven Mama Africa will purchase sewing machines, and our first cycle of mothers will be in place!

This is a great achievement, but the renovation of the building and the teacher's daily transportation cost are unforeseen expenses. Enliven Mama Africa welcomes any continued donations.

Thank you for reading. Enliven Mama Africa is coming alive.

-Sarah Bibbey, EMA director, USA

A Life-Centered Project

Ghanaian Long-Lost Brother

Throughout the past two months, I have dramatically shifted my view of Enliven Mama Africa and its role in my life. When I first returned to the USA, and especially when I started at Colorado State University, I looked at every opportunity as a way to enrich this project. Now, things have changed.

Best Friend and Colorado Mountains

Now, I look at this project as an opportunity to enrich my life. When I returned to the USA, I didn't have any commitments in my life except the ones I made to Maxwell (EMA's Managing Director) and the young women in Besease. Now, I have a school, a living community, a church, a best friend, YES Alumni companions, and a ministry still in its infant stages. Funny how that can happen in a year. My life would be overflowing even without Enliven Mama Africa.

New Experiences

I find the relationship between my other activities and Enliven Mama Africa to be positive. If I am happy, the project thrives. If I am struggling, so does the project's vision. I guess a big part of me thought that Enliven Mama Africa could take care of me, that it would make reentry easier. It would keep me tied to Ghana and keep me busy during the famous streak of boredom. I did spend a lot of the "bored" phase of reentry working on the website, but I finished it in a few weeks. If anything, EMA made reentry harder. My fellow exchanges students had a clean break, while I was still calling people in Ghana weekly.

CSU Global Village

I think its normal for American who've lived abroad, especially in Africa, to become cynical about daily life in the USA. I willed myself not to be that person, but my will is rarely stronger than my nature. During the first eight months, cynicism was a real presence in my thoughts. Daily. Living with people like me at CSU's Global Village helped. I don't know what I would have done without that.

Service Benefits the Servers

 My cynicism peaked just before a life-altering trip to Washington DC with YES Alumni. Seeing other young people who were passionate about change in the world inspired me. But more than being inspired, something within me changed. I talked to other Americans limping from reentry, and to students from Kenya, Malaysia, Turkey, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Saudi-Arabia, Mozambique, India, Egypt, and...Ghana. I wasn't "the girl who lived in Africa and for some reason wants to start a project" in that workshop. I was one of many like that, and I saw that Enliven Mama Africa is tiny compared to the entirety of all service work done because of the YES Program.

Changemakers, Washington DC

The workshop made most participants feel more empowered about their projects, but it gave me a chance to step back. I become less focused on the minutiae of Enliven, and more on its beauty, on what it gives me. Service benefits the server far more than the one served. I am finding that as a Bible study leader, as a leadership student, and as a friend.

For a while, Enliven Mama Africa was the center of my life. I had a "project-centered life." Now, as my life fills with more surprises and love everyday, I see that Enliven Mama Africa is a "life-centered project." The more full my life is, the more enthusiasm I can inject into Mam'Africa.

Why I Continue

Besease Swimming Hole

I will not pretend it is easy to work on something like Enliven Mama Africa and still be a full time student with extracurricular involvement. Sometimes I do wish my schedule was a bit more typical.

However, making the video brought me joy. Watching the fundraising bar grow everyday brings me joy. But what brings me the most joy is the idea of working with the young mothers of Besease. I can't say I know them the way I know my best friend. However, while in Besease, I could sense their great need and great potential.

It is the hospitality of Ghana that makes it such a second home for me. These young mothers opened to Mavis, our translator, telling her their stories. They "took us as their friends," even teaching us how to cook Ghanaian food and showing us the swimming hole at the river. The strength and kindness of these people are the rule, not the exception.

Maa Aggie Adinkra, my Ghanaian Mother

Exchange Student Life

I continue working on this project because of my love for Ghana. My host family and friends there endure in my heart and mind. There is a large part of me called "Afia Adinkra." She is a piece of me that could easily have disappeared upon my return to the United States. But I have chosen to allow my experience to completely transform how I spend my time. It is not easy, but I know life could be much harder. I will never have to worry about my basic needs.

No matter how hard this gets, I will continue. I have given my word to Maxwell. I have family in Ghana, who are so supportive of my endeavors. I have friends there from many walks of life.

I may never live in Ghana again. I can't say for sure. But Enliven Mama Africa lives there, and lives in the USA, too. Sarah Bibbey and Afia Adinkra co-exist within my very self.

Help keep Enliven Mama Africa going by giving at: http://www.gvcoca.org/fundraisers/enliven-mama-africa/


 

Enliven Mama Africa Fundraiser and Updates

Welcome to the Enliven Mama Africa blog! We hope our readers will be interested in hearing more details about our work...beyond our website and Facebook posts. The work Enliven Mama Africa has been conducting until now has largely involved networking with a local organization called
Global Visionaries. Global Visionaries has brought students to Guatemala for 17 years, and now they are acting as our incubator. In July 2014 we will travel to Ghana together to meet with Maxwell, our managing director, and enroll ten young mothers in learning the trades of sewing and hairdressing. When these women have skills and means to start their own businesses, their children
will have opportunities for education and their day to day strife will be lessened. To make our project a reality, we are conducting a fundraiser from February 14- March 31. With your help, we can give these single mothers hope, and also foster intercultural learning through our volunteer program. To give, visit: http://www.gvcoca.org/fundraisers/enliven-mama-africa/.

Enliven Mama Africa is committed to the communities of Besease and Nkawie. In Besease, the single mothers are eager to begin learning new skills from their local business women. There, too, schoolteachers are looking forward to volunteer tutors. In Nkawie, the farming families are excited to host volunteers and share their knowledge about West African agriculture. The three branches of the project are intimately connected. As American money supports the young mothers' education, the mothers' community will inspire American youth to work for change. As American volunteers bolster farmers with labor, the farmers will show them how they live. Enliven Mama Africa's vision is to be more than a charity or volunteer organization, but to be an exchange of life, resources, and culture. 

With this in mind, understand that your investment in Enliven Mama Africa will support ten specific young mothers, but that it will also impact their community and yours.

Give today at www.gvcoca.org/fundraisers/enliven-mama-africa/.