Make your gift a profession

I met Tina J. Kpan at the African and Spanish Women Enterpreneurs Meeting in Madrid, organized by Fundación Mujeres on 25^th, 26^th and 27^th June 2010. I had never seen her before, but I spotted her among 150 African women from the very first day. I had the honor and the pleasure to assist her for three days and I was amazed by her enthusiasm, creativity and proactivity. She, like many other women in Africa, has suffered the terrible consequences of war. Her husband was killed when the Liberian Civil War started and she had to move with his 5 year old boy to a refugee camp in Ghana. While being there, she suffered from an allergy which caused her lot of pain, apart from the pain of being a refugee in a foreign country. It was too much for her and one day she was determined to suicide. However, when she looked at her little boy she realized that, if she would commit suicide, his son would remain alone on his own. She saw a light in the darkness and decided to turn her gift into a profession. What was her gift? Design, making clothes, arts & crafts. Little by little, she started selling more and more of her works up to a point when she was able to set up a fashion shop in Ghana. Years went by and then, two or three years ago, Tina came back to Liberia and started the KaSaWa project: Liberian Fashion for Development. She helps orphan children and prostitutes: “You know, my boy saved my life many years ago, and when I think that my boy could have been one of those children I help… I just have to help them”.

Her message is clear: make your gift a profession and share. When are you going to start then?

I would like to thank Fundación Mujeres and all the women who participated at the meeting in Madrid for their sharing!

Michael Thallium
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