Zenabu Awudu

"After my WildHearts microloan my sewing business grew and I was able to take on apprentices.  I'm so proud that I can help young women from my community learn a trade and build a secure future for themselves."  Zenabu Awudu.

My name is Zenabu Awudu. My father passed away when I was just a little girl. My younger siblings and I were all in school but we had to drop out when our father died as our mother could not afford to pay our school fees. All my hopes of an education were shattered and I had to move to stay with my uncle in a different region of Ghana because my mother couldn’t look after us all. My time with my uncle was not a happy one, especially after his wife died. He used to argue with me and eventually threw me out of his home. A local family took me in and I was extremely lucky to able to learn a trade as a seamstress. I dreamed of opening my own sewing store but had to move back to my village to look after my sick mother.

Eventually I was able to start a small tie-dye business but it was very humble. Then one day my life completely changed when the WildHearts loan officer came to visit me and invited me to join a WildHearts Trust Bank with other people from my community. I was able to access a loan of £144 which gave me the capital I needed to begin travelling to Kumasi, Ghana’s second city, to buy materials such as linen, thimbles, and needles in bulk for sewing. My sewing business grew and apprentices started coming to me for training. In no time I became master of fifteen apprentices.  Seven of my apprentices have now graduated and I currently have eight left under my care.  They feel like my family.  Having a trade saved my life and I feel that training other women is my calling.  I am so proud that WildHearts have given me the means to give young women from my community the chance to support themselves with honour and dignity. 

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