Ghana

NORSACC in Tamale, Northern Ghana, works with communities to support marginalised people, empowering them to meet their needs on a sustainable basis. The organisation uses advocacy and community mobilisation to achieve these objectives. Tools for Self Reliance works in partnership with NORSACC to provide tools and training to vulnerable young people locally.

Together we undertook a 12 month project to train 20 young people in the local area, all of whom had dropped out of school and were unemployed. Young people in Northern Ghana face extreme poverty and social disadvantage. Many are caught in a poverty trap – they lack the necessary skills to earn a sustainable income, and their lack of income renders it impossible for them to acquire skills through training courses. Many rely on increasingly fragile subsistence farming, which does not enable them to earn enough money to support themselves or their families.

Partnership to help young people.

Our partnership project aimed to help young people break out of this cycle – which for many seems like a hopeless situation. Together, we trained young people in practical bicycle repair, and provided training in essential entrepreneurial skills such as book keeping, marketing, and customer management. Trainees were provided with toolkits at the end of the training, and supported to set up their own businesses – with ongoing support from local steering groups set up by NORSACC.

Graduates of the programme now have thriving businesses, and many have taken on apprentices of their own – sharing knowledge, and building skills within the community.