Bridgewater Project provides accommodation for female porters
The Pamela Bridgewater Project has provided residential accommodation for 40 female porters (kayayei) at Mamobi, a suburb of Accra.
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The mostly teenage girls would be supervised by a foster mother, Obaatanpa Adwoa Amponsah, who will also counsel them against negative social vices, such as teenage pregnancy and premarital sex.
Accommodation
The accommodation is part of the core objectives of the Bridgewater Project to ensure the safety and well-being of the female porters. The Mamobi facility, will also serve as a home for other female porters in Accra.
Prior to this initiative, the female porters in the area mostly slept in the open and were exposed to social dangers, such as rape and defilement by some unscrupulous men.
Appeal for support
The Project Director of the Bridgewater Group, Mr Yahaya Alhassan, appealed for support from well-meaning Ghanaians to provide descent living conditions to the unfortunate girls.
“It is a sin to watch our precious girls sleep on the streets and be exposed to very dangerous conditions,” he said.
He urged other non-governmental organisations and civil society groups to make the resettlement of the female porters and their wards a priority. “These children need to be in school to avoid the cycle of poverty and ignorance as a way of solving this national phenomenon,” he said.
He added that the kayayei phenomenon required a multidimensional approach with positive action.
