Help Restore My Dignity Im Not a Witch

#RestoreMyDignity 

#ImNotaWitch 

Shockingly, women in Ghana are routinely accused of witchcraft. Those who escape physical assault are commonly banished to so-called “witch camps.” Homemade Shea, my social enterprise, empowers these women by offering much-needed employment. We partner with them to produce shea butter and support their community initiatives. Please join our campaign to complete the production center. A fully functioning production center will help improve the women’s personal financial security and help them gain dignity in their new community.

A gathering in the village square

Many people assume that accusations of witchcraft and its deadly consequences are confined to the Salem Witch Trials of the 17th century. But the practice continues today in Ghana.

I am both a social justice entrepreneur and an academic. I learned about witch camps in Ghana while doing research for a class I taught at Princeton University that touched on African traditional religion. The Gnani Witch Camp, the location of our enterprise, is the largest and remotest of seven such camps in the country.

Many in Ghana believe in witchcraft, and that witches are evil people who inflict harm on innocent victims. With rampant accusations of witchcraft, witchcraft-driven violence is unfortunately very common. Just a few months ago in July 2020, 90-year-old Akua Denteh was publicly bludgeoned to death. Her crime? Using witchcraft to hurt people. And four weeks after that 60-year-old Meri Ibrahim was assaulted; fortunately, she lived. February 8, a young man poisoned his grandmother for using witchcraft to cause his failure.

The link below is a media report of the lynching of Akua Denteh. Please be advised that embedded in the report is a graphic video that may be disturbing.  
https://bit.ly/3pAcM8g 

Accused women who are 'lucky' to escape to witch camps have to start life all over again. They have no real recourse to justice.

I first visited the Gnani Witch Camp, in the Savannah Region of Ghana in 2015. There are about 250 accused women living there. They are safe from physical harm in the camp but find it hard to make a living. The economy of the local village is not vibrant, so most residents of the village travel out to the nearest towns for work. But the accused women cannot do so freely for fear of recognition and consequently being assaulted all over again. So, while at the camp they experience severe financial instability.

A village scene
 
Efforts by human rights organizations, churches, NGOs’ including the government of Ghana to shut down the witch camps or return accused people back home, have not been wholly successful in breaking the cycle of accusations and subsequent witchcraft-driven acts of violence.

In order to complete the production center and set the women of the Gnani witch camp on a path to financial security, I’m seeking one-time support to complete the shea butter production center.

I created Homemade Shea, a shea butter skincare social enterprise to bring much-needed employment to the accused women. We source raw shea butter from them to supply our online skincare shop and supply wholesale to larger skincare companies. The people in the village are excited about their prospects and so are we. By bringing employment to the women at the camp they can proudly earn their own money and gain social dignity. They are not seeking charity.

In a meeting with some of the accused women. Arrow pointing to me.

Fortunately, shea butter is now a global commodity. It is made from shea nuts which grow abundantly as fruits on shea trees mainly in West Africa.

The value of shea butter is going up every year as demand for it in both the food and cosmetic industry increases. In 2019, the global shea butter market size was valued at USD 1.12 billion and its compound annual growth is projected at 6.6%.

Our women-partners stand a good chance to benefit from this phenomenal global demand and growth. In addition to income earned from making our shea butter, we make financial contributions to their community development fund to meet needs such as water wells and a health center.

Last year, Homemade shea secured a purchasing order for 15 tons of shea butter. Because the production center is not yet scaled up, only half of one ton (about 3%) out of 15 was produced by our Gnani women-partners. This was a great loss of opportunity for income for them. Had they been able to supply all 15 tons, the group of 20 women would have made a combined income the equivalent of $4,800 or $240 per person over a period of 12 weeks which is over double the minimum wage pro-rated in Ghana! We are expecting a purchasing order for 25 tons in September and for subsequent years. Imagine how transformative this opportunity would be for our women-partners. With your support at HelpRestoreMyDignityImNotaWitch , we should be able to scale up and meet purchasing orders year this year and beyond. 

Below are some of the things we can do with your support:

·        Finish our 6-room production center this year. We have already completed a separate storage room.

·       Finish an outdoor concrete floor work-area  

·       Acquire more equipment such as grinding mills, crushers, kneaders, roasters, and large-size water tanks.

·       Acquire shea nuts for making into raw shea butter.

·       Pay for fair-trade certification. We passed the audit a few years ago but have not been able to afford subsequent annual audits. Though we have maintained fair-trade standards we would like certification to confirm our fair-trade practice.
 
For your generosity of spirit and gift, we offer you 15% off products from our website https://www.homemade-shea.com/shop-1 Please use code DIGNITY.

Please help pave brand-new paths for women whose lives are at risk!
Give whatever you can. No donation is too small
·       Share our message and link on IG: @homemade.shea
·       Email our message and link to your family + friends
Please spread the word. Thank you.

Gnani kids in school attire at play

Gnani kids at play