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Step Up has taken advantage of Sew Your Future last 5 years experience. For this reason an extensive community entry was carried out as well as very in-depth interviews with potential participants to understand their commitment to undertake a long and challenging journey, dropout was in fact one of the problems of the past.
The first year of the project saw the integration of technical workshops (English, mathematics, ICT), personal development (Mental Health, Self-Esteem Development, Gender Norms and Roles, Gender-Based Violence, Business Development & Women Cooperation) and, to diversify the training offer and provide greater job opportunities to participants, a leather processing course.
Another cornerstone of the team’s work in Ghana was engagement with the community, because there cannot be change for women if there is no sharing of the same ideas. The person development workshops were designed collaboratively by the project team, beneficiaries, external evaluators and SYF APS.
The workshops were designed to respond to the specific needs and interests of the project beneficiaries. The topics were selected through a collaborative decision making process with the aforementioned actors. The involvement of previous beneficiaries who actively participated in the series of workshops was fundamental. The young people described their journey and highlighted the impact of the project since its inception with the aim of motivating and inspiring the girls currently attending the course. Finally, the workshops were not open to other men and women from the Jamestown community.
During the course of the project, motivational visits were introduced, the output of which was very positive, to the point that this activity was included in a structural way for the next courses. One of the visits was to Makola Market (the largest market in Accra) to teach how to select good quality fabrics, understand prices and negotiate with sellers. It was also explained how and where to select the different types of fabric based on the type of garment or fabric object to be made. Other experiences were in social cooperatives to show the entire production process and the use of eco-friendly materials but above all to demonstrate that a women’s cooperative can achieve excellent results.
Among the events organized in Italy, there are two workshops organized with Double Trouble Bologna (DTB, https://doubletroublebologna-com.myshopify.com/), one on marketing and management with Caterina Libouri, co-founder and manager of DTB , addressed to the Step Up project team and a design one with Margherita Libouri which received the enthusiasm of the girls and the project coordinators.
Sew Your Future APS and DUNK grassroots do not want to give up the quality of teaching and the principles of coherence, perseverance, determination and dedication to increase the number of participants. We hope that all those who decide not to continue the cooperative’s path are capable of working as seamstresses or assistants for high quality tailors but above all that they have acquired the life skills necessary to be tenacious and independent and this attitude can be conveyed only by example.
As a corollary to the more technical aspects, both Health Cards and Scholarships for the children of the participants were financed but, despite these small contributions, most of the girls do not have support from their families or from the fathers of their children and this can affect their constant attendance at courses. For the next few, in fact, solutions are being studied that can provide economic relief to the most vulnerable girls without causing dependence on the same.
For the success of this first year of the project, we thank our operating partner, DUNK grassroots (https://www.instagram.com/dunkgrassroots_gh/), deeply integrated and constantly present in the community, the main financier of the project, the Church Valdese, through the Otto per Mille funds (https://www.ottopermillevaldese.org), all our donors and volunteers who contribute financially but above all with their passion.
