Hello and welcome everyone. In today’s exciting blog post, I have the privilege of interviewing a wonderful young lady called Ethel Nanayaa Amoako Baffoe. She is so amazing and exudes so much confidence, you’ll see. Sit back and enjoy this.
Ama Duncan (AD): You‘re welcome Afrakuma. I’m so glad to have you.
Ethel Nanayaa Amoako Baffoe(ENAB): Thank you so much too. I’m grateful for being on this platform.
AD: Afrakuma, you are a woman of many hats: writer, ghost writer, founder of Grooming Girls Network, entrepreneur, etc and I’m curious to learn more about you. First tell us about yourself.
ENAB: I’m Ethel Nanayaa Amoako Baffoe, the founder of Grooming Girls Network. It is an NGO I created with friends back in school. I grew up in a community and a family where as a young girl, my mother didn’t really pay attention to me, so most of the information I needed, I got them from the wrong sources. I didn’t get the right information when it came to career, sexual health, etc. As a result, I missed out on a lot of things. So as I grew up, I realized this problem still persists with a lot more other girls. And so I told myself, why don’t we create a sisterhood online platform, where we can have conversations with these girls and feed them with the right information? Currently, we’re working on our Period Poverty project. I have been a victim of period poverty and it made me miss out on school whenever I was on my period because my mother could not afford to buy me sanitary towels sometimes. And the times she could also afford, it was not enough because we were twins. Asides these projects, I’m a ghost writer and a trained Journalist and an Entrepreneur as well.
AD: It’s interesting that your personal struggle led to the start of your organization. That’s brilliant! Tell us about Grooming Girls Network?
ENAB: Basically, what we do at Grooming Girls is to provide comprehensive sexual education, mentorship and career guidance for young girls. We believe that if you want women to grow up to become who you want them to be, you need to start training them from the onset. Feeding them with the right information as they’re growing up will help them immensely rather than when they’ve already made all the mistakes.
AD: That’s fantastic! How long have you been in existence?
ENAB: Grooming Girls started in 2017 in school. It was then a group of girls from Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) and University of Ghana. We would skip lectures once in a while to go have seminars and we kept at it and excitingly we got registered last year.
AD: What are some of the successes you’ve had with your foundation?
ENAB: One of my greatest successes had to do with our Period Poverty project. We’ve been able to reach close to 1300 girls and distribute over 2000 sanitary pads. We give out disposable and reusable types. And we’ve met some very wonderful people as well to help with the project.
AD: That’s wonderful. God bless you for using your past experience to be a blessing unto others. Which parts of Ghana do you operate in?
ENAB: We operate in Accra, we’ve been to Sabzugu in the North, we’ve been to Central Region and we’ll be moving to the Volta region very soon.
AD: I’m curious Afrakuma, how do you fund your projects?
ENAB: For the past projects, most have been from our own financing and others from business angels too. But for the current pending project, we’ve sent out proposals so we’re hoping to get a number of sponsors on board soon.
AD: You know what, I pray your business prospers immensely so you can write huge checks to fund your projects. Speaking of business, tell us about yours?
ENAB: I’m naturally an entrepreneur. Since I was a child I use do business. I used to sell everything. I would try to identify a problem in my surrounding and create a solution to solve it. I tried a whole lot of things and it seemed not to work so I had to come back and redesign my strategy to get it right. Currently, my roommate and I decided on a Yam and Pork business in Osu, because Osu is a very busy place and its where people like to enjoy good food, hehehe. It’s the best Yam and Pork you can get in the whole of Osu and Accra. We started by cooking only on orders and delivering but we’re hoping to move to a brick and mortar as we progress.
AD: Amen! Tell us about the re-usable pads you’re currently promoting.
ENAB: When we started the project, we were distributing disposable pads and we were looking at having a very sustainable project but because of funding, we were not able to give a particular girl from January to December. So while thinking and doing research on how to solve this problem, we realized people are using disposable pads. So we implemented it in our project too. We teach them how to maintain the hygiene for it and many other concerns they have concerning it as well.
AD: I really admire your creativity and boldness Afrukuma. Even with your seemingly ‘little’ you are being a blessing; I can only imagine what you will do when your business starts to prosper financially. Well done Milady!
Before you go, please complete the following with a short phrase or sentence:
If I could advise my younger self in one short sentence, I would say “be you”.
I am fabulous because “I’m amazing”.
One book that has greatly helped me in business is “The Smart Money Woman”.
AD: How can a listener be of help or support your projects?
ENAB: Mainly, if they can be of help with the materials which we can only get in china or the absorbents or funding as well, we will really appreciate it.
AD: Your final words to our audience?
ENAB: We’ve made a lot of mistakes as humans in the past and most people still dwell on their pasts. You may not get it right from the beginning, but if you get to a point where you’re able to begin all over again, accept it, let go of the past, accept the new you and build it and always be the best version of yourself and love yourself.
AD: Amazing. Thank you so much Afrakuma. You’re such a blessing to your generation. I wish you all the best in your endeavors.
ENAB: Thank you so much Ama for having me as well.
Wasn’t that wonderful?! I love the fact that she is just so confident in who she is as a child of God, she loves herself and she encourages the rest of us to do the same. It’s really beautiful to see young Ghanaians who are helping others. Check out her upcoming events in the link below. If this has been of value to you, kindly share your comments in the comments section. Until the same time again, don’t forget to be Fabulous.
Ama xx
PS: Check out Grooming Girls’ Menstrual hygiene education and reusable pad donation for girls at Adaklu district in the Volta Region here
About Afrakuma
Ethel Nanayaa Amoako Baffoe describes herself as an enthusiastic young lady, who seeks to change the world in her own small way. She is a trained journalist, a girl child advocate, writer and an entrepreneur.
She wants to be the change she wants to see. Ethel is a 2019 undergraduate from the Ghana Institute of Journalism. She writes ‘I wanted to be a journalist so bad but I made errors along the way then I discovered my passion for advocacy. The passion to be a journalist still stirs up and definitely I will’. She wants to build a profession in project management and is currently working as a ghost writer.
Ethel loves traveling, meeting new people, impacting lives, volunteering and making the best out of her life. Her favorite slogans are “live in the moment” and “let go and let God”
