Are We Doing Something Right? A Community Coordinator’s Testimony

By: Lydia Adomako, Community Liaision Officer in Ghana

I am with the Teen Girls Club this week. They are discussing sexual harassment and abuse in their five communities. School is in recess, but the girls showed up to the training in big numbers. My colleague Grace (Teen Girl Club Team Lead) was the main facilitator and she did it flawlessly. Girls were “asking for a friend” and sharing their “friends’” experiences, though from where I was sitting, it was obvious that the experiences were their own. After the questions and contributions by the girls concluded, the two community coordinators took the opportunity to say something to the girls.

Vivian Nkrumah is a catalyst for her community. She has been with SHI for over ten years now; from the inception of the micro credit program in her community; and she has benefitted from all the intervention programs. In her bid to advise the young ladies, she spoke about an inspiring encounter she had in the hospital with one of our Teen Girls’ Club members who had graduated. Vivian told a story of a young lady who had come to assist her with documentation when her husband was taken to the hospital.

“When we got to the hospital, I was confused and helpless, my husband was really sick, I needed to have some paperwork done so they could admit him, but I couldn’t leave him alone and the other nurses available were all very busy. Then I heard a voice behind me asking if I needed help with something. She helped me with all the paperwork while I stayed with my husband. The way she was behaving, it felt like she knew me, so after thanking her for the support, I asked if we had met before. The young lady replied, “Mum, it’s me, Ahodwo.” I was still lost so she kept talking. “I was a member of the Teen Girls Club, now I’m in nursing school. I came here for my practicum. I am like this, thanks to all the advice, encouragement, the extra tuition provided and the confidence you imbedded in me.” According to Vivian she couldn’t believe her eyes. ”I was shocked to see this girl. She looked so beautiful, elegant, refined, like a city girl.”

“I am so grateful that I have lived to see this day; the day when some of the girls we are mentoring are developing themselves as expected. I know one day, these girls will come back and transform our community. Right now, through the lives of girls like Ahodwo, Vera, Nahaajat etc, (all past members of the TGC), the younger girls have realized that if they put their heart to what they are doing, they can achieve something for themselves, their families and the community” Says Vivian. That is exactly what Self-Help International stands for: individual transformation that transcends  their families and communities.

Now, back to my initial question: are we doing something right?
I think the answer is in Ahodwo’s story.