Meet the Mamas by Location

Bead Making (FTZ in Kpong)

The Global Mamas Fair Trade Zone (FTZ) in Kpong (roughly pronounced Bong) is an inspiring sustainable manufacturing facility where Mamas team together to handcraft fair trade products including batiked apparel and accessories, jewelry, home décor products, woven items, handcrafted paper products, and bath and body products. The FTZ employs more than 80 full-time employees (primarily Mamas with a few Papas) and extends its reach to provide additional livelihoods by partnering with bead makers and water hyacinth harvesters in the surrounding communities.

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Diana Ayiku

“Prosperity means continuing to learn and grow—pushing yourself to do more. I see it in myself and in Global Mamas: as Global Mamas prospers, so do I.”

Meet Diana: Diana completed junior high school and apprenticed as a seamstress for three years before she was recruited by Global Mamas. Prior to working with Global Mamas, Diana’s focus was on making clothing, so she’s enjoyed learning how to make a broader range of products, especially our bags. Diana has been able to pass on her knowledge of sewing to new seamstresses—skills such as using an electric sewing machine (most sewing machines in Ghana are hand-powered) and following a pattern. Her colleagues admire her lightheartedness, especially when she dances at her workstation for a little mid-day exercise. Diana and her husband have three children, Christable, Enoch, and Vicencia, and she hopes to see them continue school and become independent with good jobs.

To those interested in Global Mamas products, Diana says, “We make good products—you have to buy them!”

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Veronica Amanor

“Prosperity means you’ve achieved something, like skills and the ability to support yourself.”

Meet Veronica: Seamstress Veronica went to a three-year sewing program at a vocational school and started working at Global Mamas soon after. She also apprenticed under an established seamstress and hopes to one day pass on the favor by owning her own shop and training apprentices. Veronica’s favorite Global Mamas product is the Emi dress. When she’s not at work, Veronica helps her sister Gertrude with her batiking business; Gertrude is using her profits to put herself through school. Veronica also enjoys singing in her church’s choir and cooking her favorite dish, okra stew.

To the women around the world wearing her products, Veronica says, “Keep on buying our products and tell your friends!”

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Dora Eyumu

“If you continue to learn and grow, you’ll prosper. To me, prosperity means to see my children through the best schools so they can achieve their dreams.”

Meet Dora: Having completed education through the 4th grade, Dora opened her own sewing shop more than 13 years ago. A mother of four girls—Rose, Wata, Nicey, and Prosper—Dora is passing her sewing skills to her children just as her mother passed them to her. She came to work for Global Mamas at the recommendation of her sister, also a Global Mamas seamstress. Since joining Global Mamas, Dora has enjoyed learning how to make products following patterns (most seamstresses in Ghana make clothing freehand). Her favorite products to sew are skirts.

“I’m proud to sew for Global Mamas. My life has changed since I started working here. I have more financial freedom and am better able to support my girls.”

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Charity Okine

“Prosperity means becoming a globally trained fashion designer with international connections.”

Meet Charity: As a sewing team leader at Global Mamas, Charity has the opportunity to teach her fellow seamstresses new skills. Charity has appreciated the opportunity to learn to make Western-style apparel and home décor in addition to her expertise in traditional Ghanaian clothing. Someday, she hopes to go to the United States to study fashion. When she’s not at Global Mamas, she’s training apprentices in her own shop, called His Majesty Fashion, or singing in her church choir. She and her husband own a home where they live with their son and daughter. Charity enjoys cooking jollof rice, a spicy Ghanaian specialty.

“I want my children to get an education and good jobs so they can take care of my husband and me!”

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Justina Richmond

“I would see myself as prosperous when I own my house and my own tailoring shop.”

Meet Justina: A seamstress who loves to make aprons and potholders, Justina learned to sew from her mother, with whom she apprenticed before being recruited by Global Mamas. During her apprenticeship, Global Mamas came to her mother’s shop and recruited Justina. As she continues to learn new techniques, Justina dreams of one day owning her own shop. Justina spends her weekends singing at her church and teaching young children traditional African dances. Their dance troupe travels around West Africa and hopes to make their first international trip to Greece.

“I would like to thank our Global Mamas customers very much. They buy our products, which allows us to keep working and learning new skills.”

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Faustina "Faustie" Tetteh

“Prosperity means being in good health, owning property, cars, a store… and living a life that is pleasing to God Almighty!”

Meet Faustie: Batiker Faustie heard about Global Mamas when she worked near our former site in the town of Prampram. Though she knew how to tie dye fabrics, Faustie asked a friend to train her in batiking so that she could interview for a batiking position at Global Mamas. Since she joined the organization, Faustie says she’s enjoyed learning many batik designs; her favorites are roses and hydrangea. She’d like to eventually own her own batik shop and hopes to continue learning business skills. When Faustie speaks about how she’s working towards her ultimate dream—visiting the U.S.—her eyes light up. In the meantime, she helps support her elder son, a welder, and encourages her younger son, a teacher, to further his university education.

“I want to help my children’s educational background so it will be better than mine.”

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Vivan Akotia

“Prosperity means supporting my 18-year-old sister’s education.”

Meet Vivan: One of two quality control staff members in Krobo, lighthearted Vivan joined Global Mamas after working in catering. She’s happy that she’s learned new skills here, like assembling beads, and she says that she loves all the products she checks for quality. She says Global Mamas is a “nice and good” place to work and hopes to continue her career here. When she’s not at work, Vivan spends her time with her family or at church and does laundry every Saturday.

When asked what she’d share with those who purchase the products she checks for quality, Vivan says, “Buy our products because they are made of very beautiful and rare beads.”

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Charity Charway

“To me, prosperity means putting in the time and effort to learn more skills and earn more money. The harder you work, the more that comes to you.”

Meet Charity: After graduating from junior high school, Charity trained as an apprentice to a seamstress for three and a half years. She was sewing out of her home when a friend told her about Global Mamas; she was hired after sewing a perfect Retro dress as part of the interview process. Today, Charity enjoys working in Ashaiman’s team-based model. She’s on the Modern Ladies team, working with her fellow seamstresses to produce products like the Velcro baskets. She looks forward to catching up with her teammates on Monday mornings, discussing episodes of their favorite soap opera. Outside of Global Mamas, Charity and her husband care for their two children, Jennifer and Jonathan. She dreams that her son will become a pilot and hopes that Jennifer will become an engineer.

To women around the world wearing her products, Charity has a practical message: “Your purchases help Global Mamas purchase new sewing machines and continue to grow.”

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Roseline Quartey

“Prosperity means being able to purchase the things my family needs to live.”

Meet Roseline: Roseline has been a seamstress since she finished fashion school. She lives near the Global Mamas Ashaiman office and would often see an employee, Maria, walking to work. She stopped Maria one day to find out where she worked and heard about Global Mamas. Later that week, Roseline brought in samples of her work and was hired. Roseline enjoys working with her fellow seamstresses and batikers and notes that “our teamwork is excellent.” She and her husband are saving money to build a house to live in with their three children. Roseline has big dreams for her children, saying “I want my kids to go very far in their education. My daughter wants to be a doctor. She's the best student in her class.”

To the women around the world wearing her products, Roseline says, “We are trying hard to do good; we hope you appreciate our work!”

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Regina Adjetey

“Prosperity is about learning more, about going for it!”

Meet Regina: Quality control staff member Regina came to Global Mamas looking for a job that would allow her more time on the weekend to go to church and run her hairdressing business. At Global Mamas, she learned how to conduct quality control and caught on quickly: “It's important to be really careful and make sure the product is perfect before we sell it.” Outside of Global Mamas, Regina is passionate about singing. She’s the lead singer at her church and has even recorded an album. She dreams of one day being a gospel star.

To women around the world wearing the products she’s checked for quality, Regina says, “Thanks! You make our products go far!”

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Regina Abbey

“Prosperity means being able to go back to school to finish my education—even get a bachelor’s degree. It also means being able to own a house and send my children to schools abroad.”

Meet Regina: a mother of four, Regina’s seamstress skills have enabled her to earn enough money to purchase a home. Much of her energy is focused on her family, as Ghanaians are required to pay tuition to send their children to primary and secondary school. With one daughter away at boarding school and her eldest considering studying to be a car mechanic, seeing her children excel has given Regina a renewed curiosity about her own education. “When my children are grown and gone I will go back to school. I’d like to take many different classes, just to see what I like!”

“My hope is for all my children to make their way in the world with choices and independence.”

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Grace Osabutey

“I feel that I’ve worked for prosperity and that I have achieved it.”

Meet Grace: After completing junior high school, Grace enrolled in a vocational school to learn how to batik. Following graduation, she heard about the opportunity to join Global Mamas from a friend. Grace enjoys her work at Global Mamas; she says she prefers the dyes because they don’t fade over time and she loves seeing her fabrics transformed into products. Grace designed her own pattern for a contest to create a uniform for seamstresses and batikers in Ashaiman. Grace dreams of one day opening her own large batik shop. When she’s not batiking at Global Mamas, Grace enjoys spending time with her daughter Clementina and supporting her dream of becoming a doctor.

“I like working in teams and trying new techniques together.”

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Florence Worwornyo

“Presently I see myself as being prosperous because I own a tailoring shop and live independently with no one taking care of my needs. In the future, I want to own a much bigger tailoring workshop, train apprentices, and own a house.”

Meet Florence: A seamstress, Florence joined Global Mamas at the recommendation of three of her friends who worked at the organization. As she’s learned new skills, she’s perfected the techniques needed to make her favorite product, the Eli dress, and hopes to keep learning more so that she can continue expanding her existing workshop. While she’s working at Global Mamas, she has two employees back at her workshop. Florence plans to use some of her earnings from Global Mamas to purchase an electric sewing machine for her shop. When not at work, she enjoys relaxing on nearby Legacy Beach with friends.

“I feel happy when I see people wearing our products. It makes me feel confident and comforted.”

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Elizabeth Nartey

“Prosperity means finally being computer literate! The world is being taken over by IT and having no knowledge of IT would be detrimental.”

Meet Elizabeth: Elizabeth joined Global Mamas as a seamstress after learning about the organization from a friend. In addition to learning new sewing patterns and skills, Elizabeth really enjoys working in Ashaiman’s team-based workshop. Her team of three seamstresses is called Adom, which means ‘grace’ in the Ghanaian language of Twi. The Adom team coordinates orders together and encourages one another to work hard! Elizabeth’s second son was recently born and she and her husband, a construction worker, believe that education as the key to a successful future. On the weekends, she enjoys cooking a Ghanaian dish called fufu for her family.

To the women around the world wearing her products, Elizabeth says, “Thank you for buying our products. You should continue to buy every day and tell a friend to buy Global Mamas too!”

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Beatrice Tettey

“Prosperity means owning my shop as a fashion designer with lots of customers.”

Meet Beatrice: Though Beatrice knows how to sew, Global Mamas had a greater need for a quality control staff member and she was hired in this role. Beatrice continues to sew on the weekend, hoping to one day be a Global Mamas seamstress, but it in the meantime she has the important role of making sure finished products are ready to be sold. She says that since she joined the organization, “a lot” of changes have come about in her life—it’s easier to support her children. She hopes to see them both graduate from university and help her daughter realize her dream of becoming a doctor.

To the women around the world wearing the products she’s checked for quality, Beatrice’s message is: “We want Global Mamas to prosper and be big in Ghana. We're working hard so we can achieve this! Thanks for buying our products so we can continue to grow.”

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Alice Frimpong

“Prosperity means achieving my goals. My major goal is to become an international fashion designer. I would also give back to my society by helping young people in Ghana.”

Meet Alice: A graduate of fashion school, Alice dreams of traveling outside Ghana to learn about fashion trends in other countries. These days, she’s a seamstress at Global Mamas while building her own business, Icelyn Collection, on the weekends. Alice enjoys working with her fellow Mamas because of the learning and support they offer one another. She’s especially appreciated the opportunity to learn how to use a pattern and how to finish a dress using special stitching. Her favorite product to make is the Eli dress—not only does she enjoy sewing it, but she thinks it’s a cute style!

To the women around the world wearing her products, Alice says, “We produce good and high-quality products, so keep buying from us!”

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