On Tuesday, June 19…
My first two weeks here have been great! Our volunteer house is a short taxi ride from the office and I have gotten comfortable being able to communicate where I need to go and even sometimes giving direction on how to get there.
At the office, Ali (a marketing intern from IU) and I have been communicating frequently with Jess Bowen, the sales and marketing manager for Global Mamas and she has outlined a number of projects and tasks she would like us to have accomplished by the end of our time in Ghana.
My first task was to create sample outfits that would be shown to Instagram and Facebook followers as examples of what they could win in a Global Mamas' giveaway. Global Mamas previously used the online social fashion-sharing platform Polyvore to create outfits and share their products with those invested in the fashion community. However, the website was bought by a company who has yet to make changes/provide a replacement, so after doing some research we found that previous users turned to urstyle.com, a platform that operates in a similar manner and allows users to post outfit combinations and discover new looks. Between Ali and I, we cataloged over 300 Global Mamas items into the system so other users are able to share how they would style our products and discover new Global Mamas items while creating outfits.
Ali and I are also leading communications and execution of the 12th annual design competition. The competition is open to all mamas in the Cape Coast, Ashamain, and Accra locations. We had a meeting for the Cape Coast mamas last week on Tuesday. Twenty mamas were present (the highest attendance they have had in several years) and they were excited to hear us tell them about this year's competition. We explained trends for Spring 2019 in both patterns (for possible batiks), colors, and sewed items. Patience Essibu, the office manager, translated in Fante for us after each section. Through Patience, we were able to effectively answer their questions. I also created a one page sheet explaining color trends, pattern trends, and sewing trends to send to the office managers at the Ashamain and Accra locations. Ali and I are hoping to visit these locations and document some of the mamas in their creative process.