On the 7th and final day of the ESSENCE Full Circle Festival, attendees participated in a Day of Service to the local Ghanaian community by spending the afternoon with various local non-profit organizations during five separately-themed experiences. Experience themes centered around youth empowerment, women’s health, education and empowerment for girls, entrepreneurship, the creative industry and leadership.
At the AGM training and housing facility located in the Agbogbloshie market
in Accra, many Kayayei girls (head porters) gathered to benefit from the free
health screenings, direct engagement and discussions on empowerment.
As part of the day, Ghanaian actress Joselyn Dumas also partnered with the Could You
Foundation to provide the women with free sanitary education in hopes of ending
the cycle of period poverty and give every woman access to menstrual cups and
healthcare.
The UNFPA, PAYDP and the government of Ghana also partnered to provide the
women with engagement opportunities to discuss early childhood marriage, a
situation rampant in the northern parts of Ghana, which forces these young girls to immigrate to the southern part of Ghana and live lives of inferior quality. Among the topics of discussions included sexual and reproductive health, gender equality and girls empowerment, livelihood empowerment, and leadership and innovation.
ESSENCE Full Circle Festival partners included SheaMoisture, Microsoft, Conservation International and the Office of Diaspora Affairs. For more on everything you missed at the first-ever ESSENCE Full Circle Festival, head back over to essence.com