Project Hope: Gye Nyame
PROJECT HOPE: GYE NYAME /gi-nuh-may/
(Gye Nyame means: “Except God” – except God is present, nothing is possible.)
The birth of any business is difficult. There is much planning and preparation, capital investments, long hours, personal time commitment, and tenacity.
Now, imagine you are a woman in a strange country; you have no support system, no means of raising capital, no base of operation, no trade skill, no hope.
This was the situation in which the women of Project Hope: Gye Nyame found themselves. They were refugees from their homelands, casualties of war, most of them the sole supporters of their children. They had no sustainable skill sets to provide income for themselves. Enter Point Hope.
In 2008, Point Hope paid for skills training of a group of women from the West African nations of Sierra Leone and Liberia; they had been turned away by many other organizations and we really were their last hope. The skills training covered baking, batiking, jewelry making, sewing, and soap making – all skills that can be used in building a sustainable future as entrepreneurs of enterprise in Ghana and elsewhere in West Africa.
Point Hope Ghana staff has worked with a core group of ladies from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana to prepare a business plan and to help them register their business in Ghana. We have given them training in business management, provided capital funds to start the business (micro-loans), and continue to work with them to ensure the successful birth of their business.
This means that women like Ciatta, living in Buduburam since 2001, and Ramatu and Kadie, living in Buduburam since 2004, are able to provide for their families and to raise their children: feed them, send them to school, and give them medical care; all while building a sustainable business which is able to give them all a hope for the future.
Are you interested in supporting skills training, funding a start-up business, providing supplies for a business, offering training in best business practices, or purchasing a quality product from Project Hope: Gye Nyame? Point Hope welcomes you to join us in this adventure!