Now I’ve moved through a lot of the problems of my past and I’m in a better place. – Rita Makase, BaBa Blankets Producer

These are some of our personal stories. They are stories of a common journey through the challenges of culture, identity and circumstance. Here we embrace our path. And for us, BaBa Blankets is just one more way of writing the next uplifting chapter in the road book to our lives.

About Rita Makase

Rita grew into her beautiful smile in Ghana’s Volta region. When she was 4 years old, Rita's primary school teacher, a single woman who did not have children of her own, adored her so deeply that she asked Rita’s parents to unofficially adopt Rita. Her parents agreed, as they did not have much money and knew that Rita's teacher earned a decent living and could better provide for their little girl. Rita loved living with her teacher who became a second mother to her. The teacher cared for her needs, supported her to attend school and made sure Rita knew that she was loved.

In Rita’s third year of junior secondary school (middle school), her teacher was no longer able to fund Rita’s education. She advised Rita to seek an apprenticeship so that she could learn to sew. Without money to pay for training, Rita was obliged to work in a seamstress shop for years without pay. Her dream was to one day find a job so that she could help her younger siblings go to school. Rita eventually gained her certificate as a seamstress but after graduating, she still found it difficult to find work that paid.

Rita came to Accra on an invitation from her sister and Rita’s friend brought her to the BaBa Blankets location. Rita caught on quickly and within months, became one of our most cherished experts. Now, she is using her earnings to build a studio apartment for herself and to send her younger sister to school. She plans to continue improving her skills and become a Director for a large company, “maybe even BaBa Blankets.” For Rita, it seems that she has always been on her way.

In July 2008, Rita traveled to the United States to participate in the Santa Fe International Folk Art Festival in New Mexico, USA. We are grateful to the many people in our community of supporters who made it possible for her to attend.

“Working with BaBa Blankets has made me advance in my thinking and learn more about people. It has given me hope that there is a better future for me.” - Bea Agbesinyale, BaBa Blankets Coordinator

About Beatrice Agbesinyale

With an awe-inspiring drive and warmly connecting nature, "Bea", as she is called by friends and colleagues, is the central thread that holds our collective together. She grew up a middle child of four children and entrepreneurial parents who managed to provide for their basic needs. Bea traveled alone to Accra at the age of 19 after a terrible car accident changed the trajectory of her family’s life. Her father was behind the wheel and the accident took the lives of four of their extended family members. Bea’s father was the only one to survive. Her entire family instantly became the main target of pain, grief and blame that was often too much for them to bear. Her father never fully recovered his motor skills and he was unable to resume his trade. Without the traditional communal support network, the family had nowhere to turn. Bea decided it was up to her to keep the family afloat.

She left school and ventured into the big city of Accra. She found a family that needed a ‘house girl’ and convinced them to give her the job. Bea cared for the children, cooked and cleaned for everyone in the house. Her madam ran a sewing shop next door where she trained apprentices to sew. Bea’s father was a textile artist so she had grown up with a great admiration for and organic knowledge of the trade. Bea dreamed of sharpening her skills so that she could one day go further in her life. However, the extent of her house chores made it nearly impossible for her to spend time in her madam’s shop. Still, Bea persisted and took every opportunity to learn. She awoke at the crack of dawn and worked well into the night. She made her way into that sewing shop often enough and eventually, she sailed right into ours.

When Bea came to work with us, we asked her, “Do you know how to use a computer?” To this she promptly answered, “Yes, I can learn.” Today, Bea handles all of the internet correspondence, bookkeeping, international funds transfers and air cargo shipments for the collective. She regularly sends money home to her family, all the while giving them countless new reasons to feel proud.

In July 2008, Bea traveled to the United States to participate in the Santa Fe International Folk Art Festival in New Mexico, USA. We are grateful to the many people in our community of supporters who made it possible for her to attend.

“I feel that I’ve achieved many things from this work as a woman and as a single mother.” - Victoria Afflu, BaBa Blankets Quality Control Monitor

About Victoria Afflu (aka “Auntie Vic”)

In Auntie Vic’s time, education for girls was not valued, especially by her own parents who were farmers and sent Victoria to take care of her aunt’s children. After caring for her nieces and nephews for 6 years, Auntie Vic begged her aunt to send her to school, to which her aunt replied, “No, women don’t go to school.” Auntie Vic was discouraged but not defeated. She decided to ask her grandparents instead. She begged them and her grandmother eventually accepted, but this time her grandfather refused. Without her grandfather’s consent, Auntie Vic’s dream of becoming educated alluded her. At age 13 years, realizing she had no other choice, Victoria set out to put herself to school.

It took a variety of odd jobs for Auntie Vic to earn enough money to keep up with all the school fees. She carried concrete blocks for builders, fetched water for families, collected sand to sell to concrete makers and made doughnuts to sell on the roadside between classes. She did all this before school in the morning, during her lunch break in the afternoon and after classes in the evening. Naturally, all this working left very little time for sleeping and even less time for homework. She often found herself racing back to class after one of her odd jobs kept her past the bell. She was determined to stay in school so she started working from 2am until 8am and then rushing to class.
Auntie Vic managed to keep herself in school for a few years before her family decided otherwise. Victoria's uncle, who hadn’t married, needed a house girl. Being a responsible young girl made her a prime candidate. Auntie Vic was promptly sent to live with her uncle whom she begged to help her to continue her education. He said that he did not have the money for her school fees and to Auntie Vic’s dismay, he lived in a remote village where there was nothing for her to do to earn money. Again, her dream of an education had to be put away. She cooked, cleaned and cared for her uncle for 3 years before she finally ran away to Accra. She was 23 years old and she quickly found a job selling palm wine. Instead of using the money to send herself back to school, she decided to send her younger brother in her place.

Many years passed, Auntie Vic eventually became a cook and with her earnings, she made sure that her own two daughters were able to attend school. Now at BaBa Blankets, she is learning a host of new skills, all the while generously helping many more young girls get the one chance that she so dearly longed to have – an education of their very own.

“Through this experience, I know that I have a bright future.” - Lydia Ajiro, BaBa Blankets Producer

About Lydia Ajiro

Lydia was fortunate enough to complete her secondary school education. Her father had a career as a prison officer which enabled him to send Lydia and her two brothers to school. Just as Lydia was studying for her final graduation exams, her father was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident. Her parents returned to their villages and sent Lydia to live with her grandmother in Accra. When she arrived at her grandmother’s house, Lydia realized that her grandmother could not provide food for her to eat. Lydia was expected to feed herself but she had no means to earn a living. Sometimes friends would give her food or she’d go days without eating. Lydia remembers this time in her life as one of the greatest challenges that she ever had to face.

Lydia has been with BaBa Blankets for almost two years now. At first, Lydia much preferred making queen-sized duvet covers instead of the king. “I’m too small for the king-sized,” she used to say. Now it seems that no job is too big for Lydia. She takes care of all her own needs and she sends money home to her family. When she’s having fun, she lights up the entire collective with her contagious laughter. Sometimes she laughs so hard that she can’t stop and then neither can we! She loves learning new things, especially the creative design aspect of BaBa Blankets. She plans to open a fashion design and catering institute to help other women do work that helps them grow more capable than ever before.

Check back in the future for more of our Collective Profiles. Here are some of the other BaBa Blanket women that you are soon to meet . . .

Grace Antor

“I have a vision for what I want to do in the future and this opportunity is helping me to plan and work towards it.” - Grace Antor, BaBa Blankets Producer

Phyrda Helechy

“I’ve learned a lot from this work and it’s given me different ideas about what I can do.” – Phyrda Helechy, BaBa Blankets Producer

Georgina Ntumi

“Now I want to encourage other women who are not educated so that they know that they too can learn something and change their lives.” – Georgina Ntumi, BaBa Blankets Producer

Elizabeth Bansah

“All that they are learning here is their future. I know that they will go on walking in the learning that they’ve had here and continue to prosper.” - Elizabeth Bansah, BaBa Blankets Training Lead

Rehematu Akwoier

Rehematu Akwoier, BaBa Blankets Apprentice

Diana Nimo

Diana Nimo, BaBa Blankets Producer

Grace Turkson

Grace Turkson, BaBa Blankets Producer