Self-Help Made a Difference to Mamudu

Mamudu tells how SHI made a difference in her life.

The world we live in today is now driven by technology and formal education where literacy is expected. Presently, formal education has been introduced to most parts of Ghana including marginalized communities. In an interview with a newly graduated young seamstress, Munayatu Mamudu shared the impacts in her life through Self-Help International’s Teen Girls Club’s literacy and training programs.

Munayatu, 25, completed basic school in 2013 and is a former member of the Teen Girls Club in Kukubuso, in the Atwima Mponua District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Although as a youngster, her dream was to become a nurse, financial crisis forced her out of the formal education after completing basic education. Through determination, hard work, motivation and endurance, Munayatu is now a seamstress with an apprentice at Kukubuso. She is a proud and confident lady, ready to face future challenges and also give back to her community. During the interview, she highlighted the numerous encounters she has had with Self-Help International and how she has benefited from the training programs.

“SHI has helped me so much that I cannot recount all of them. I was 20 years old when I had the chance to join the club in 2016. Anytime I saw the club members, I wished I was part of them. Though I had enrolled in sewing training, I was having difficulties in reading and writing which was affecting my progress in the apprenticeship. Having heard about the literacy and some personal development training programs SHI had been rendering to my community, I developed the interest in joining the club regardless of my age. I sat in the literacy class with younger colleagues but I was not shy or discouraged because I had a focus. A year after enrollment, my reading skills improved and I was able to compete with my fellows. Also, SHI has also helped me boost my confidence level. Inferiority complex had been a major challenge to me until I joined the SHI-Teen Girls Club. Their Self-esteem training program was very beneficial to me. The team was always mindful of my personal issues and provided the needed advice as and when needed. Currently, I am a professional seamstress with an apprentice. In fact SHI has really helped me and it is my wish that every teenage girl in this community could get enrolled in their program. I am very much grateful for the privilege given to be the club’s coordinator in my community and I am looking forward to use this opportunity to impact the girls.”

“Kukubuso is one of the communities where teen girls are vulnerable to early parenthood. But due to the motivations and advice from the club, I was able to abstain and focus on my future”, she added.

The young seamstress has accredited her success to the trainings SHI provided to her. She is ready to make an impact in her community.