Yayra-Si Youth Foundation

Empower Women and Youth in Ghana

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Welcome to Yayra-Si Youth Foundation

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Banana Fibre Bag Project

Our Current Project

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Our Current Project

Doryumu Clinic Expansion Project

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Since 2019

Empowering young women around the world

Our organization has been supporting young women to reach their fullest potential through vocational skills and empowerment programs.

Yayra-Si Youth Foundation (YSYF) is an NGO committed to improving the economic and health outcomes for women and youth in Doryumu, Ghana. We connect women and youth to vocational training opportunities that improve their knowledge and skills, allowing them to gain financial independence. We also organize health promotion initiatives focused on reproductive health and hygiene to address teenage pregnancy and sanitation issues in this community. In times of crisis, we act judiciously to meet the priority needs of the community through strategic partnerships and resource allocation.

What We Do

Our Work

We implement projects in training, health education, research, mentorship and advocacy to support young women in Ghana, as well as their communities

Sexual and Reproductive Health, Hygiene

Health

In Ghana, adolescent pregnancies are prevalent in marginalized communities, commonly driven by poverty, unemployment, and lack of sexual health knowledge. This has severely impacted the lives of young women and girls, resulting in school dropouts, early marriage, compromised births, and health challenges for mother and child.

Despite this worrying sexual phenomenon, research pertaining to prevention information and related services in Sub-Saharan nations like Ghana is sparse. With adequate sexual and reproductive health education and accessible services, adolescent pregnancies could be widely prevented.

We imagine a community where young girls are able to participate in their adolescence without any burdens, and can enjoy healthy, fulfilling lives. With your donations, YSYF can provide sexual and reproductive health information and related services in the Shai-Osudoku region, and make this a reality.

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Vocational Training, Mentorship, and Education

Education

Your donation can make a difference! YSYF works directly with local partners in Ghana, so that every youth has access to self-development opportunities, and receives support to be economically empowered through Technical and Vocational Education.

In the words of Maya Angelou “Surviving is Important but Thriving is elegant." It is our aim that each youth is able to move from the point of survival to thriving, so that they can actualize their fullest potential.

Vocational training and education is an important step in this empowerment. We provide direct training in handicraft making and liquid soap production, as well as sponsor young women into long-term, accredited training programs.

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A Critical, Anti-Oppressive Framework

Decolonization

Colonial history and repercussions allow dominance hierarchies to persist in several African countries and other parts of the world, including Ghana. Decolonization is the work of undoing colonialism, and is a major part of our agenda.

In all of our work, we rely on local, indigenous knowledge to and enact strategies to mitigate Western bias. We respect the autonomy of those with whom we work, and uphold their inherent dignity in all we do. We also advocate for the use of anti-oppressive practices and ways of thinking in development work in the Global South and local communities.

In July-August 2019, we launched our Doryumu Diaries campaign, where we showcased the stories of residents in the communities in which we work. The goal was to reform the limited ways in which stories of African people have been told, by allowing them to control their own narratives.

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Feeding Programs & Hamper Distribution

Food Security

Access to quality, nutritious food is fundamental to human thriving. Secure access to food can produce wide ranging positive impacts, including improving economic growth, reducing poverty and promoting health.

During times of crisis, we support households headed by women, youth, elders, and those with disabilities who also face food insecurity with staples.

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Trainees

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Meals donated during COVID-19

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People Educated on Reproductive Health

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People Given Access to Handwashing Facilities

What our Collaborators, Beneficiaries, and Donors Say

Testimonials

Yayra-Si Youth Foundation (YSYF) has changed my perspective on NGOs. Their parallel governing structure, anti-colonial stance, empowering of local youth to implement projects, and engage local authorities to train on culturally safe knowledge can be a model for non-profits working in a global context. Hence, instead of throwing the baby with the bathwater, we need to revolutionize NGOs into a more progressive and critical perspective. That is why I agree to advise the outstanding University of Toronto students who partner with their local Ghanaian counterparts to redefine the operations of NGOs in Ghana.

Dr. Suleyman Demi

Researcher, Social Justice and Critical Health Studies, University of Toronto

I joined Merpearl Royal Fashion and Design training school about two years ago through Madam Naa Ankrah of Yayra-Si Youth Foundation. After junior high school, my parents couldn't father my education to senior high school due to financial difficulties. For that reason, I was in the house doing nothing. Because life was difficult, I depended on men for survival. Madam Naa came to my aid by introducing Merpearl Royal vocational training to me, in which she sponsored all of the costs involved. Now I can sew on my own, which has become my lifetime employment, and it will help me to overcome financial challenges when I graduate.

I really appreciate what Yayra-Si Youth Foundation has done for me. Without YSYF, I don't know what my life would have turned to.

Sandra Korkor Sackitey

Trainee, Merpearl Royal Vocational Training School

As someone who has always believed in the importance of empowering others, it has been incredibly inspiring to witness and support YSYF's tremendous impact on young Ghanaian women, by providing them with the tools/skills necessary to help support their communities.

Mura Abdul Nabi

Donor, Undergraduate Student, University of Toronto Scarborough

Our projects have supported over 3,840 beneficiaries from over five remote communities in Ghana.

As part of our Retelling Health campaign, we installed eight hands-free hand-washing stations and soap, as well as 500 masks to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Ghana. We also shared stories of hope from local residents to foster an empathetic, global community.