Grace’s Story

“Get out!” shouted Grace’s uncle. “Your father is dead and you have no brothers. This land is mine now.”

Grace, only 12, cringed at the thought of losing her home and land. But according to the customs of the 500,000 Frafra people in Ghana, land goes to the surviving male. If there is no son, it goes to a brother or nephew, not the wife and daughters. So, after the death of her father, Grace, her mother and sisters were left destitute.

Four years later, Grace met some Frafra women who were attending a literacy class. She longed to learn to read too. Joining classes sponsored by GILLBT (Ghana Institute of Literacy, Linguistics and Bible Translation), Grace began to read and write in Frafra. She continued with second language acquisition classes to learn English, crucial to her graduation as a health nurse.

By the time she was 40, Grace led the Women In Literacy and Development program for the Frafra. The literacy classes are not just about reading. Learning also about running a small business cooperative, and health and nutrition, the women are trained to improve the lives and livelihood of their families. Grace helps women organize cooperatives where they keep records of sales and costs, as well as develop markets for their products.

The self-confidence, skills and vision that Grace has gained through the Frafra literacy classes have changed her own life and those of the women she’s trained. She became the first woman to serve the Frafra community in the district assembly.

In Ghana, West Africa, Laari Kombat operates a successful tailoring business. His achievements could be considered a small miracle, considering the obstacles he faced early in life.