Afia Justina, A Kayayei Volunteer

Born in Miami, Florida, Justina Predelus, has always dreamt of discovering Africa, the land of her ancestors, and to support the empowerment of girls and young women in the continent.

Her dream came true when in 2016 she came to Ghana as a volunteer, which was made possible by the Pamela Bridgewater Project, which seeks to provide future and welfare to disadvantaged children and girls popularly known as kayayei through education, training, protection and research.

Whiles in Ghana, Ms. Justina undertook voluntary services at a vocational center at Mamobi-Nima, where needy girls are trained in dressing making and other vocational skills. Afia, as she became known because she was born on a Friday, donated sewing materials to the center, which she also volunteered to build.

“Assisting girls in vocational training would give them the needed skills to make them economically viable” she said.

She added that, setting up their own small scale ventures after acquiring vocational skills would make the girls financially independent to be able to cater for their children and to break the cycle of poverty.

After overseeing the construction of the center to an advance stage, Afia Justina, together with her mother, Joslyn Predelus and aunt Aline Hippolyte, visited the Pamela Bridgewater resettlement center and clinic for kayayeis located at the Kejetia market and lorry terminal in Kumasi, where the family assisted in the demarcation of the center into various units, which include a data collection department.

Local and foreign volunteers would be tasked to collect data such as age, identity and place of origin to access the needs of the kayayei and recommend appropriate training.

Other departments include the information unit that would share beneficial information to the market women and kayayeis at Kejetia. The marriage redress department would also host local and foreign volunteers who are endowed in law to assist in addressing marriage grievances for women.

The anti-human trafficking unit would also help to track girls as young as 8 years who are usually trafficked from the north to the south by unscrupulous people for their selfish gains. The unit will coordinate with northern authorities to strategize against such movements and punish the culprits.

The healthcare unit would aid in providing counseling on teenage pregnancy and other social cankers to the disadvantaged girls and they would also be encouraged to report all forms of abuse meted out to them.

After extending a laboring service and technical advice, the American family returned to Accra to host a talent show for children at Mamobi, where the kids displayed their talents in music, dancing, raps, poetry and dress making. The winners received laptop, tablets, mobile phones, digital cameras and other prizes.

Ms. Justina, a product of Georgia State University, was closer to the disadvantaged girls and women, mostly found in the big cities such as Accra and Kumasi and she distributed baby diapers and cloths for their children.

She described her trip to Ghana to volunteer for the kayayei as a life fulfilling endeavor and she praised the hospitality of Ghana and she stressed that in her capacity as an international coordinator of the Bridgewater Project, she would do more to link or organize students or volunteers to choose various kayayei project in Ghana as part of efforts to realize the kayayei phenomenon.

The Pamela Bridgewater’s Joseph Project is an invitation of African-Americans or those in the diaspora to discover Ghana, whiles choosing voluntary projects during their stay in Africa.