As the New Year kicks off here at World Vision, it is also kicking off at the University of Manchester. I'm really excited as since I was granted the year sabbatical from my job there, I've been trying to think of ways that I might be able to link some of my work at the University with my placement here.

One aspect of my job there (as a Volunteering and Community Engagement Executive) was to support students running their own volunteering projects, a really fun part of the work as it meant we were helping students come up with creative ways to support charities or run community development initiatives. One project in particular tasks students to use their business knowledge and entrepreneurial skills to benefit people in need, and it's this group I've turned to in a bid to help two people that I have met here in Zebilla, and whose stories have really touched me. Here is a summary of the first.

Zebilla is a small town in Bawku West in the Upper East Region of Ghana, one of the most deprived areas of the country, where many people suffer from extreme poverty. The majority of people here are subsistence farmers; most simply farm what they can to eat, which often still is not enough. Petty trading and small 'enterprises' are everywhere, as many people attempt to make a small living to pay for basic needs such as housing, clothing, food, health and education.

Ayuuba's story:

Ayuuba is a 17 year old teenager living in Zebilla. His family are very poor, and struggle to meet their basic needs for food, clothing and shelter. He lives with his mother, older sister and three younger siblings Ibrahim (9), Rabi (7) and Matina (3) in a traditional compound house. Earlier this year Ayuuba's father passed away in a tragic accident; a house fire that killed him in the night.

Before his death, Ayuuba's father managed to run a small income generating activity buying, raising and selling donkeys. He made a small amount of money to be able to buy some food, pay for health care, and provide school fees and books for his 5 children. Following his death the business had to come to to an end, as it wasn't something that Ayuuba or his mother could have taken on.

The family have some land, which they use to grow and harvest crops, such as maize and millet. Unfortunately all the crops that the family had stored in their house to last them through the dry season were also burnt in the house fire. Now Ayuuba's mother, Howa, is left to farm and tend to their crops, a hugely challenging task for a single mother. On market days she sells food by the roadside to attempt to raise some money to pay for food for the family. Howa speaks very little English and unfortunately cannot read or write as she left school in the early years of primary school.

As a result the family have very little income; at the most Howa may earn 3 GHC a day (£1), which is just enough for food, but cannot stretch to cover other needs such as medical help or school fees.

Ayuuba is only in Form 2 in Junior High School (the equivalent of year 2 in secondary school at home), which is the case for many boys his age, as they are often unable to stay in education as they are growing up, and just attend school when they can. He does ok in school, he is quite bright and does have potential, but struggles with maths and science especially, often coming for help with his homework, and leaving with such a sense of achievement when he learns something new.

A couple of months ago, Ayuuba asked for some support in setting up a small business, in order to generate an income for his family and especially for his own and his sibling's school needs He had a good idea for a small business, and showed real enthusiasm and commitment to earning money to pay for his school books and those of his brothers and sisters. So that's where the team of students at the university have offered to step in. They are currently recruiting some students to help and mentor Ayuuba via the wonderful technology of Skype. At first Ayuuba wanted to start selling phone units (the pay-as-you-go phone credit that everyone with a mobile phone relies on here) but after some careful consideration, and a good chat with his savvy business minded mother, he decided that buying and selling guinea fowls (the most popular poultry of choice here and a real delicacy) would be a better option.

The students started their support by creating a contract, in which Ayuuba has agreed that his studies will come first, and all the profits will go on the basic needs for the family. He spent some time planning how he can best fit this around his studies, and making a list of all the things the family currently need to buy (school uniforms, sandals for school, text books, pencils, some school fees etc) resulting in the total profit that he is aiming for, which actually made his eyes go wide and his jaw drop - he hasn't had much experience of managing the family budget until now! And last weekend he was finally ready to go out and start trading.

So he took some of the start up money, and headed off to the bridge by the Senior High School, where men come by on their rickety bicycles with the guinea fowl they have been rearing out on their farms. Traders sit in the hot morning sun, waiting for the men to arrive, and when they do there is a whole kafuffle of activity as the men barter and negotiate decent prices for their fowl in the midst of the feathers and dust kicked up by the tens of fowl as they are swung about and tested for size, weight and juicyness. One guinea fowl can be bought for about 15 GHC (Ghana Cedis), and then sold for about 17 or 18 GHC if they are lucky. 1GHC is enough to buy a school text book, and 20 peshawas will buy a pencil. Uniforms are about 25GHC, and sandals about 10GHC. 3GHC is the equivalent to £1, so you get the idea of the poverty levels here.

On that day we worked it as a bit of a trial, Ayuuuba took only a small amount of the money given to him, and used it to buy 3 guinea fowls, two big ones and one little small one. He then jumped on his own rickety bicycle and headed off in the now scorching sunshine to the market, where he attempted to trade them to the buyers there and make a profit. That day he came back to see me later with a huge smile on his face. He brandished the cash, and told me "I've made a profit!". And whilst he had actually only made 1GHC, it was a start and better than a loss (!), and for him even just seeing the opportunity to take on some responsibility and make some money for his family was enough to boost his spirits. He is already learning so much, and it's a great way for him to also boost his maths and English skills as he has been tasked with writing a business plan and figuring out things like profit and loss.

So hopefully every market day he will now take his money and go off to be buying and selling, before school, and after, making a small profit along the way and slowly but surely building a brighter future for himself and his siblings.

With love from Ghana,

Em Xx

Photo: Ayuuba with his bike outside my house after his first day of selling guinea fowl.