This spring, CAF America sent 14 of our colleagues to eligible charitable partners around the world for the 2024 annual Site Visit program.
Our staff engage in these nonprofit site visits to gain local context to tailor grant strategies effectively, enhance risk management and compliance efforts, and foster trust through personal relationships with grantees. They also help monitor and evaluate grantee progress and impact, ensure funds are used as agreed and outcomes achieved, and strengthen their organizational expertise and knowledge to help make informed recommendations to donors.
Lev Heller (Business Process Analyst) and Anson Mersereau (Senior Associate, Grant Services) spent one week in Ghana visiting four nonprofit organizations. Learn more about their experience visiting Jabneel Impact below:
Tamale, a city of nearly 300,000 people in the northern region of Ghana, is filled with bustling markets, sprawling religious centers, and an ever-growing population. However, mixed in with this city of growth lie pockets of people either severely disadvantaged by circumstances outside of their control or by social and economic stigmas. The hardships faced by those in Tamale are seen across the country, with many people finding themselves in need of a helping hand.
Founded by Ghanaian actress and movie producer Selassie Ibrahim, the nonprofit Jabneel Impact hopes to address these issues. They work to support the economic empowerment of widows and orphaned girls in several cities throughout Ghana through vocational training and microfinance opportunities. Jabneel’s holistic application process for new trainees considers individuals unique backgrounds and showcases clear pathways for over a dozen skills applicants can expand on to eventually turn into a business. Moses Ohene, their program director, noted that “the idea of the project was to ensure that we are able to create opportunities for orphans to move from their needy situations and become sustainably employed [through these acquired skills].” This approach has yielded impressive results, with 85% of those who are provided support going on to start and maintain their businesses within their three years following the program. CAF America funds actively supported this initiative, which has funded the training for 35 orphans and microfinancing support to 30 widows.
Jabneel Impact’s monitoring of the participants progress also shows that many of the people who have gone through the vocational training program have in turn taken on apprentices in their shops and businesses. This naturally developed knowledge transfer is something that Jabneel is hoping to factor into their future projects, intending to “build a team of trainers” that can be employed to educate future cohorts of participants, improving scalability in the future.
As a part of our site visit, we met with 12 participants of Jabneel’s vocation training program at one of their places of business, an open air salon. The owner, Mariam, welcomed us into her shop, expressing her appreciation for how the training she underwent changed her life for the better, a sentiment conveyed by all those in attendance. As we spoke with the women, one of the clearest impacts for a lot of these women was the financial independence that comes with owning their own businesses. “We have seen a lot of changes in our lives,” said one of the business owners. It was clear that those in the room were visibly proud of sharing the accomplishments they had made after Jabneel’s vocational training, being able to provide for themselves as well as their families, with the ultimate hope of being able to do the same for those they take under their wing.
Some of the participants have started their business alongside family members and friends, working out of other shops or carts in the market area. Notably, these women see their primary objective as establishing a shop of their own. While they each have challenges to overcome, the air in the room was one of excitement for the future and encouragement that support groups like Jabneel Impact are watching out for them.
Partnership with CAF America
CAF America has funded $45,000 in grants to Jabneel Impact, supporting capacity training in business development, entrepreneurship, digital platforms, and financial management. The grants also enabled the provision of business infrastructure and learning tools for orphaned youth and single mothers. Our donors empowered 50 low-income youth through vocational training in areas including Dressmaking, Hairdressing, Glazing, Metal Fabrication and assisted 100 single mothers with business development modules and capital for their micro and small businesses.
Jabneel Impact has conducted these training programs around the country and in future hope to reach 1,000 people in Ghana, as well as beginning support networks in different countries around the West African region. Ibrahim stated that this initiative has always been to establish more stable and sustainable lives for those most in need, a sentiment reinforced by her statement that “when you educate a child or train a child, you train an entire nation.”
Learn more about the great work done by organizations we support by viewing our other Stories of Impact. Learn more about Jabneel Impact’s work here. Jabneel Impact’s mission and future initiatives can be supported through donations made via their donations page.
