For today’s Ghana post, I wanted to share a few more portraits of the women at the vocational training center in Adidome.

The fabric-making class was so fun to observe. The women learn how to take white cloth and dye it into beautiful African fabrics. After putting the fabric into different colored dye’s to create a pattern, they take these stamps and dip them into wax, and then press them into the fabric as seen below. Every single cloth is different! After they are done, they sell the fabric in their store, and the women who are seamstresses can sew a shirt, dress, or skirt.

Here’s a few more photos from the bead-making class. They start with these clumps of clay, and amazingly turn them into the beads you see below. Once they are in bead-form, they have to sit out for a few days to dry, and then go into a kiln to harden completely. They can then be painted and threaded into necklaces, bracelets, or earrings. The teacher told me that the whole process takes about 3 weeks.

The soap-making class! I’m not going to lie, the process was so foreign to me that I’m not really sure how to explain what they were doing. Plus, the girls in the class were so excited that I was there that all they wanted to do was have me take pictures of them. I kept telling them that they were going to get me in trouble when their teacher came back :) This is a great class, though, because everyone in Ghana hand-washes their clothes. So now these women not only have a skill to make something that is needed by everyone, but they can save money by being able to make their own soap.

I unfortunately didn’t master this technique, even though I tried multiple times…

These women continue to inspire me every time I think of them. They have been through more in their lives already than I will ever go through. And yet, or maybe because of this, their joy is incredible. They know that they have been rescued, and they are GRATEFUL for the opportunity to work. They were so welcoming to me as I took a little peek into their lives. I’m so thankful for the work that International Needs Ghana is doing, training up these amazing women to be able to support themselves and to use the talents that God has given them.

I thought I would end this post with baby Dennis, because this has to bring a little joy to your day :)