Working in Kwesimintim

Since July 7th we have hosted entrepreneurship and innovation workshops for entrepreneurs in Kwesimintim, Takoradi in partnership with an organization called IT4Teens. 

IT4Teens facilitates I.T. workshops for local youth. It has been nationally recognized in Ghana as a "change leader" for recognizing the importance of providing I.T. to youth, based on the understanding that I.T. skills are a critical tool for a person's growth and development. It is clear that the IT4Teens visionaries, Erasmus Akon and Marian Ewurama Wiredu, are making an impressive impact on local youth. [Note: We will post more on IT4Teens and their impressive workshops in another post.] IT4Teens perceived that community members could also benefit from basic business training, which we have worked to provide. 

Kwesimintim is the local community within Takoradi where have hosted our entrepreneurship workshops (think, like Leslieville or Corktown in Toronto) and is the community in which IT4Teens is based. Kwesimintim is a less developed community within Takoradi, which increases the potential impact of the IT4Teens workshops and those that we have facilitated. 

We had privilege of meeting the Chief of Kwesimintim and his elders in late June to inform them of our plans to facilitate workshops in the community and to seek their permission to proceed. [As an aside, the hundreds of local communities in Ghana are led by chiefs who are prohibited from involvement in politics, but maintain symbolic roles as community leaders. Communities also elect MPs to a federal legislature, similar to our system in Canada.] The Chief and his elders accepted our objective and agreed to promote our workshops to community members, in part, using the P.A. system that is located in the centre of the community and is used to broadcast information to local residents. 

Street addresses are rare in Takoradi. Accordingly, most locations are identified by the most recognizable landmark nearby or by the closest intersection. For instance, when we travel to IT4Teens by taxi, we ask to travel to the Kwesimintim traffic light, to the building beside the Catholic Church [Note: More on bargaining with taxi drivers and other means of transportation in another post.]

Part of the Kwesimintim community

We have enjoyed an authentic Ghanaian experience as guests in Kwesimintim (there are no supermarkets, restaurants, or other chain stores there). The locals are friendly, and the children are curious about us "obrunis". Chris has been asked by men to marry their daughters and Emily seems to receive much more attention when Chris is not nearby.  At approximately 3pm each day, when school is finished for the day, we experience a consistent stream of greetings though the curtains at IT4Teens entrance: "obruni hello", "obruni, how are you?", "obruni, goodbye". It's all part of what has made visiting Ghana a unique experience.