*Community Girls Network members doing bead work together*

Building new skills and enterprise opportunities

One of the most unexpected outcomes of the AdAmi Project has been the continued growth of the Community Girls Network, a vibrant movement led by the young mothers with steer from our partner MEANS.

Developing new livelihood and income generating opportunities is a key priority for the network. Last year, we supported MEANS to establish temporary training centres in two of the communities, where young mothers can gather to learn new skills and engage in business. Over the past few months, the team have delivered training in gara tie dying, a popular local technique for dying clothes, and cake baking and decorating. Other activities have included tailoring and hair dressing workshops.

‘We want to give back by supporting other young mothers in need,’ Musu, one of the leaders of the network, explains. ‘The network brings us together and makes us powerful. We help one another to build better futures.’

*Hospitality students at their work placements*

More graduation success

20 more young mothers have graduated from their vocational training courses in Bo. We held a small event in January to celebrate their success and to distribute individual start-up kits. Friends and family joined the event, as well as local media.

Janet, a tailoring graduate who spoke at the event, said: ‘when I became pregnant people would laugh at me. They’d call me a drop out, nobody believed I could do anything with my life, but look at me now. Thank you for making me proud.’

Of the 20 young mothers:

2 have secured employment at a local hotel following their work placements
10 are now self-employed, using their vocational skills and start up kits to earn an income in activities like tailoring
4 are in ongoing unpaid training
4 are currently looking for work with support from the AdAmi Project.

Welcoming a new cohort of young mothers

As we said farewell to these 20 young women, we welcomed 25 new young mothers onto the programme in February. These young mothers were referred to the programme by several of our referral partners, including the maternity unit of a local hospital.

Following the enrolment process, the young mothers began their weekly life skills training in February. So far, we have seen excellent levels of participation and attendance. All are due to start formal training/schooling from September.

A baseline was conducted in January. Of the 25 young mothers:

The average age is 19-20
Over 60% have been out of education for 2 or more years, with upwards of 40% having not completed their basic education
64% cited pregnancy as the main reason for leaving school
Almost 70% have no means of earning an income of their own
92% want help to rebuild family relationship which have broken down
68% have no contact with the fathers of their children

IWD celebrations

8th March marked International Women’s Day (IWD), and the team and young mothers participated in various events to celebrate the day.

The theme of this year’s IWD was Inspire Inclusion. We asked some of the young mothers on our programme what inclusion means to them and why it matters:

‘Inclusion means being allowed to continue my education. Being a young mother should not prevent me from learning or making a success of my life.’

‘When I was training to become a mechanic people told me I could not do it, that it was a man’s job. Yet I have proven them wrong and now these same men admire me and give me their vehicles to fix.’

‘Inclusion for me means being seen and heard in my community and in the home.’

Other news in brief

The AdAmi Project has begun a new one-year partnership with the EA Foundation, an organisation set-up to improve the lives of disadvantaged communities around the world. We would like to say a huge thank you to EA Foundation for their support, as well as to the many others individuals, trusts and foundations who make our work possible.
Our 4 new university scholars are now settled into their courses and doing well. Our first university scholar, Nasiratu, is preparing to graduate this summer. We will be sharing more detailed updates about the scheme in future newsletters.

Thank you!

On behalf of everyone at the AdAmi Project, a huge thank you for your continued support towards our work. To support our work further, please consider making a donation today.

Spring News 2024