In Ghana’s bustling capital city of Accra, 28-year-old Abida starts her day early to head to a small shop that sells jewellery, cosmetics and underwear. A shop she owns.
“It feels really great to have something to call my own. Getting up in the morning and saying I’m going to my shop, it feels very good.”
She opens the doors at 8am and will keep them open for the next twelve hours, avoiding the boredom she feels at home and relishing her work as a business owner. She got her start buying and selling things in her local neighbourhood, and has worked hard to advance to where she is today. Her customers trail in to have a look, a chat, and buy bits and pieces they need.
Abida knows this might not have been her life.
Some of her friends got pregnant at school and had to drop out. Her own mother was pregnant at 18 with the first of four children. In school, Abida had a boyfriend and was terrified about getting pregnant and how that could derail her plans to become financially independent.
“I heard that there was a clinic nearby. Before I went in for the appointment, I was feeling nervous. I had heard a lot of negative things about contraception. The misconceptions in Ghana are too much. I heard that you won’t be able to have any children if you start it. A lot of girls are scared. But I knew what I wanted, so I had to take care of myself, put the steps in place and go get contraception.”
“If I hadn’t accessed contraception, I would be having kids by now. I don’t think I would be here with my own business.”
Abida talks to young women in her shop about family planning options to try and break down all the stigma and misconceptions that are common in Ghana. She tells them:
“It helps you to plan your life and get to where you want to be. If you don’t fight for yourself, no-one is going to fight for you.
Adida’s plans don’t stop here. Her shop is a stepping stone to a bigger business where she can earn more money and cement her independence.
And MSI will be there for her, as she continues to make the reproductive choices that will support her future.
