She Inspires are aiming to raise AT LEAST £600 which will go towards funding two of our members to go to Ghana this summer to finally meet the women we work with! They will also be able to see first hand the impact we have made so far!
Who are we?Enactus Essex has a network of more than 80 members, with an end goal of empowering people and improving the livelihoods of people and communities. This is achieved by using entrepreneurial actions, that we develop at the University of Essex, and turning them into local and international projects.
My name is Joy Oniah and I am the project leader of one of Enactus Essex' international projects; She Inspires. I am 19 years old and I attend the University of Essex. This project has been running for more than a year now, and with the help of my vice project leader Mikel Lothan and our she inspires team, we are aiming to carry on making a huge impact in the lives of the women we work with.
The woman in the video above is Serwaa. She has been a part of She Inspires since the project started. Serwaa was a victim of sex trafficking and abuse, and as a result she was left with a child, no income and very low self esteem. However, with the help of She Inspires, she is now an independent fashion designer, making and selling her own clothes. On top of this she is able to send her son to school and pay for her bills. Serwaa has also become very confident in herself and the potential that she carries. She is no longer afraid to live her life and is very thankful to She Inspires. We are touched to have had the chance to change Serwaas' life and give her hope again, however our aim is to carry on changing the lives of women in similar situations to Serwaa.
Our story
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"She Inspires is a very unique project as our principles are the same as the quote above. Our main goal is to give former street girls and victims of sex-trafficking a chance at a better life where they are independent and financially stable. We do this by teaching them essential skills needed to start up their own innovative enterprises in their chosen field. By doing so, we give them knowledge and hope that can impact a whole community for a lifetime. As well as this, she inspires facilitates the personal development of the women through a mentoring scheme. We aim to understand the traumatic past experiences that each women has suffered and slowly but surely help them through it by building a rapport with each individual.
We are very passionate about this project as it tackles a number of issues and has the ability to impact an enormous amount of people and communities. The biggest barrier that stands between these women and their success is their lack of motivation, trust and self-belief. If we are given the help and support we need from donors, together we will all be able to knock down these women' barriers and guide them into a better life.
Your donations
We are raising money to fund for at least two members of the project to go to Ghana this summer to represent everyone here in the UK working hard to meet the needs of each girl. This way we are able to see first hand, the impact that we are making and build a stronger rapport with the women we work with. All funding that we receive will cover the costs of flights to and from Ghana, accommodation, food and materials/souvenirs/welcome hampers for our women, for a duration of one and a half weeks stay.
All extra funds will go towards raising even more awareness for the project and the work that these women are doing. We have our annual fashion show every year where we display these women' hard work. However with more funding, we will be able to make these events bigger and better!
What do you get out of donating?
If you donate to our cause, you will become a part of a team that has helped save and impact thousands of lives as you have given us the tools we need to teach these females. If that's not enough, we have little treats to give away as a way of saying thank you for being a part of our team :)
Find us here
If you want to find out more about our project, what Enactus Essex as a whole does or if you want to keep up with our campaign.
Be sure to follow us on Twitter @EnactusEssex and find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EnactusEssex
You don't need to give money to help us succeed! Please share this project with anyone you think would support us – on Twitter (hash tag #GetSheInspiresToGhana) , Facebook, LinkedIn, by email, telephone, in a chat over the fence or on your blog. In fact, share it with everyone you know as we think it's a great idea, and the more people who know about it, the more likely we are to make this work out brilliantly.
And we know we said you don't need to give money to help us, but we'd love it if you did! Please sponsor us and help make this happen.
