Our Projects
The Farm Project
After we began working with Global Nutrition and Health, we realized that many TWC members and their families suffered from a protein and vitamin deficiencies. And while information on better eating habits help, we felt that food production might push them in the right direction.
We fundraised to buy land, to clear it, plant it, and put up a wall around it. See the before and after pictures! .
Today we also have a rabbit production and will soon start farming poultry. Taken together these efforts promote a healthier lifestyle for the Talented Women and their families
The Bakery Project
We have recently started a bakery! Three groups of talented women are now developing their baking talents. The TWC provided the first round of ingredients of flour, margarine, yeast, so they could test their skills for a larger scale production. Then each group will collectively buy the next round. The bread will be baked in a large oven owned by one of the TWC members. The bread will be sold at the shop of another member, door to door, and at the little bakery itself. The women will keep most of the profits but some will go to the TWC to help grow the funds for lending microcredit loans to other members. Those bakers who owe money for loans will also be able to pay them back more quickly. Win win win for all.
The Nutrition Project
The Talent Tree and the Charity Club hae been successful in introducing health education in Talented Women’s Club. We are now we expanding on this effort. Work with the TWC the has shown us that the need for reliable information is acute. Many market trader women are functionally illiterate and their contact with health workers is sporadic at best. This combination can mean that misinformation flourishes.
We collaborate with Metropolitan University’s GNH that sends Bachelor students to do research on the TWC. They have identified various health and nutrition issues and the women of the TWC have enthusiastically taken new qualified information and put it to use. GNH students are excellent at teaching healthy practices but eventually they go home and good nutritional habits fall into disuse. We decided that we also need long term and local.
Therefore, we have started a dialogue about creating a culturally sensitive nutrition educational program for petty trader women in Greater Accra, a model that could be used to educate various women’s groups about the benefits of healthy food practices and exercise. We will employ a Ghanaian nutritionist with forty years of experience with Ghana Health Service. We are very excited about this new development. The women of the TWC will be trained to interview and make health interventions.
