Nana Baakan Agyrirwah

Nana will travel to Morant Bay, Jamaica to continue working with the St. Thomas Women’s Sewing Cooperative. The cooperative, based at the Morant Bay Women’s Center, will provide members of the center, all of whom are unwed mothers ages 14-27, the mechanism to establish a business, enhance creative skills and uplift their self-esteem by focusing on the traditional artist craft of quilting and other hand crafted items. Nana will serve as a business advisor and sewing instructor. She will also create a fair trade exchange so the women receive just compensation for their art. As a single mother whose sewing allowed her to support her family, Nana hopes this program will provide participants with the tools they need to be independent and self-sustainable.