Fair Trade Zone Update

Though we faced setbacks due to COVID-19, Global Mamas was finally able to construct the first building segment of the FTZ (see section E). Construction is underway for the rest of Building B and Outdoor Structure C and is expected to be completed by the end of 2021. 

Global Mamas will reduce operational overhead and benefit from further economies of scale by merging our two nearby offices (50 existing employees) into the FTZ by the end of January 2022 and will have the space to provide 50 additional jobs in these buildings. With support from Blessed Sacrament, the solar system will be installed by the end of February 2022. With Global Mamas planned expansion in the areas of paper and packaging products made from water hyacinth and skin care products using all-sustainable packaging, we plan to create 50 new jobs for Ghanaian women by the end of 2022.

• 31 Dec 2021:      Complete Construction of Buildings B and C

• 31 Jan 2022:       Move Akuse and Odumase-Krobo Offices to FTZ (50 employees)

• 28 Feb 2022:      Install Solar System in Buildings B and C

• 31 Dec 2022:      Create 50 new jobs (85% women)

With the financial assistance from friends and family of Global Mamas (especially the Diane and Wayne crew!), we were able to construct the first building segment (B2) of the FTZ.                                                          

The facility was designed using a co-operative and participatory approach where the Mamas voiced their opinions about workspace ergonomics, design, and layout. Local and international architects, engineers, and scientists incorporated these ideas into the FTZ design that is unlike anything seen in Ghana before. This was a critical first step where the engineers, architects, and building contractor were able to determine the best use of sustainable building materials for the larger FTZ.

FTZ Update

Renae from Global Mamas sent the following update along with a slew of pictures of the progress made on the Free Trade Zone. As you have read in previous updates this journey has been filled with ups and downs and political tape to cut through but now you can actually see the fruits of all of your generous donations from 2015 first hand.

Hi Diane and Wayne,

I hope you and everyone are doing well. I have great news – the foundation has been laid for the first building and the walls are going up! The waterworks and electricity hookups should be done soon as well. We are SO SO SO excited! We could not have done this without your unwavering support over the years.

I might also have more good news. There is a new call for proposals for grants from the German Gov’t for construction and equipment to generate jobs for women in Ghana. Yup – you read that right. We are a perfect fit and I believe that we have a great chance to get funding to cover the cover of the entire dream – 200+ jobs at the FTZ. It is also a matching grants program and I’ve read that they should match “in kind” contributions, like investments in land and construction that is not yet completed, as part of our contribution. So, fingers crossed, all the fundraising for the land and building that you’ve already done will be matched!

The seed that Melanie planted so many years ago, with a lot of TLC (from SO many people) is finally sprouting J

Love, Renae

Fair Trade Zone Update

Dear All,

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since we were all together to raise money for Global Mamas in Ghana in order to start the process that would see Melanie's dream of a Fair Trade Zone come to fruition. 

There have been countless attempts by Renae and Kristin to move this project forward and you wouldn't believe half of what's transpired. Global Mamas, led by these two talented, fearless women, have prevailed and the land for the FTZ has been purchased and construction has begun. 

These are Renae's words from September 3rd, 2020:

I wanted to let you know the good...Great...UNBELIEVABLE news that as of today, Global Mamas officially owns OUTRIGHT the 5 acres of land upon which the FTZ will be built. What an incredibly difficult journey this has been for years and I'm grateful to you and your family for supporting us along the way through the thick and thin. With the approval of our land lawyer, the land is now paid for in full remaining one live sheep, and a bottle of Schnapps (and according to Hannes "something from our heart") for the chiefs). Congrats to all of us! And now onto the construction phase :)

And this from Kristin, September 3rd, 2020:

I echo Renae’s sentiment… Thank you so much for buying this land for us in honor of the most kind, caring, loving, funny, and beautiful Melanie! Thank you too for believing in us as we navigated the absolutely insane Ghanaian bureaucracy and corruption surrounding land purchases. Others might have given up, but WE ARE NOT QUITTERS!

As all of you can imagine, this amazing news brought all kinds of memories and emotions with it and an overwhelming feeling of FINALLY!! 

This email is to thank you. Thank you friends, family, and neighbours for allowing us to remind you about Melanie's dream, our family dream, and your integral part in making this new development possible.

We're starting to think about the possibility of having another fundraiser. We don't have any plans at the moment but if/when we do, we'll send a follow-up email and post the details here. 

We trust that all of you are well and happy!

Wayne & Diane, Shannon, Jay, Nathan & Emma, Danielle, John, Sloan & Calvin 

Thank You

It has been a year since we had our silent auction fundraiser in aid of Global Mamas.

Once again, we would like to share our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all of our family, friends, and acquaintances for your tremendous generosity and support at our special event on June 6, 2015. It was a wonderful evening and, as all of you know, we raised upwards of $25,000.00 for Global Mamas with the hope that Melanie's dream, to build a Fair Trade Zone, could be realized some day.

We would like to update you on what has happened with our initiative. 

The money from the silent auction remains untouched, in Canada. Renae, Kristin and our family thought it best not to transfer the funds to Ghana with the devalued Canadian dollar. 

Recently, this news from Renae: 

"I met employees in Ashaiman to hear their ideas on how to consolidate batiking/sewing (with Mamas living in Ashaiman and Prampram) and bead assembly/weaving (with Mamas in Krobo) into one big facility THE FTZ in New Akrandey in the area of Kpadorm (“paa-dome”). 

Kristin and I will look at the land in New Akrandey during the first week of July. If the land meets our expectations, the next steps include:

- Checking into the land zoning, 

- Buying the land

- Building a temporary fence

- Getting a family to farm and keep the land safe

- Getting the District Assembly Planning Department to sign off on building plans

- Informing all parties about what is happening (DSW, District Assembly, Chiefs, villages around)

- Looking for synergies with other surrounding businesses.

Assuming all goes well and the land is purchased, we can then begin planning for the building."

 

This is progress and we are delighted to share the good news with all of you! 

Nothing will happen quickly, however, we are very pleased with the 'one step at a time' approach because it aligns with our family motto, which is to TRY. 

We wish all of you a wonderful and happy summer!

Update from Kristen and Renae (Founders of Global Mamas)

Time has been flying by since we were all together in June. Based on your feedback and support we’ve continued to work various angles for launching our Fair Trade Zone in Ghana. We did finally get the attention of the Minister of Trade and he’s agreed to meet with us over the coming months to learn more about Global Mamas. He is well aware that we are pursuing a spot in one of the ghost factories. Apparently now that the Minister of Trade is aware of the factories (thanks to Global Mamas) the situation has become complicated with politics. We are still hoping they will find a spot for the Mamas in the area. We have also continued to investigate options for purchasing land in partnership with our colleague from Architects sans Frontiers.

In July we hosted our second retreat for our Ghanaian Leadership Team. We are working together to empower our very productive operational managers further as they begin taking on additional leadership responsibilities. We also promoted the first employee we ever hired, Patience Essibu Treve, to HR Manager for the organization. Some of you may have heard Patience’s name before as Melanie was very much her champion and mentor.

We will keep sending periodic updates on our progress. It is really great to know you are all there in Edmonton cheering us on. Thank you again for your support!

Kristin, Renae and all of the Mamas

and before we go, if you happen to be in Holland, Manitoba you can now buy Global Mamas product at Tiger Hills Art Association.

2 Months Removed

It is hard to believe we are over 2 months removed from the Silent Auction and again thank-you from the bottom of our hearts for the outpouring of support.

While planning this event, we were so focused on putting on an event that Melanie would be proud of we failed to consider how to get every last penny of the money raised to Ghana. Our initial plan was to just give Global Mamas all of the money raised so they could deposit it into their American account but collectively we balked at the idea of losing over 8000 dollars to exchange rate. I hope you understand that we want this money, this money that you all graciously donated to get as close as possible to realizing Melanie’s vision of a new Fair Trade Zone in Ghana.

After exploring a few options we have a path forward, that path involves Global Mamas opening up a small business account with a Canadian financial institution. This still requires hoops to jump through and reams of documents to be filled out but the hope is to have it completed in the next 2 weeks.

For anyone that paid by cheque we want to first say sorry for it being over 2 months with that cheque not being cashed, we understand how frustrating this can be. With the current plan it will be roughly another 3 weeks before your cheque will be cashed. I hope you understand and we are sorry for not communicating this to you sooner. If for any reason this timeline doesn’t work for you, please feel free to contact us at celebratemelanie@gmail.com to arrange an alternative.

We will send another update in the next couple of weeks on the progress and an updated timeline if required.

Again we sincerely thank you for helping us CELEBRATE MELANIE.

With love,

Wayne, Diane, Shannon, Danielle, Jay, John, Nathan, Emma & Sloan

Fundraiser Update

Hi Everyone!

We wanted to provide you with an update as we draw closer to JUNE 6th. Your response has been terrific which will contribute to a fun and successful evening. Your generosity in providing silent auction items and cash donations is overwhelming. We will send out 1 more update in about a month from now but wanted to ask those that have said they were coming to go to our website and purchase their tickets online so we can have an indication of the amounts of food and refreshments required for the evening. 

Should you wish to purchase any auction items, we will accept cash and all major credit cards. Speaking of items, thus far we're very close to having 75 of them and this number will likely grow to over 100 by JUNE 6th. Some items include an upright spin bike, hot yoga passes, Edmonton Eskimo football tickets, wine and gift baskets, designer sunglasses, Ghana cycling jersey, Global Mamas clothing, bluetooth speakers etc. We'll tease you a little more in our next email with other super exciting items! 

Sincerely, 

Mel's Family

A Garden in Ghana for Mel

Thank-You

“The most valuable asset is not a head full of knowledge. But a heart full of love, with an ear ready to listen and a hand willing to help.”

From the bottom of our hearts we would like to thank each and every one of you for your generosity in donations, auction items, enthusiasm and kind words. Every email, comment, text, and message is circulated around our family and we cherish every single word that is written about Melanie and our family’s determination to realize Mel’s project and vision.

Organizing a fundraiser and silent auction was one way we believed we, with the help of all of you, could raise money for Global Mamas. One of Mel’s many amazing abilities was fundraising and organizing successful events to help spread awareness and raise money for organizations and companies that she believed in. When she believed in something she made us all believe. Her uncanny way of creating excitement out of a small idea led to huge successful events. She knew how to involve anybody who was willing to lend a hand, to find joy in the smallest of tasks, to bring a crowd with her, and to have this crowd just as excited as she was about succeeding. She was a leader, and she still is.

As a family, this fundraiser is such a small way that we can contribute and help Global Mamas raise the funds that they need for the Fair Trade Zone to be built, and we couldn’t do it without you. We are thrilled that you all will be there to help us achieve Mel’s goal and with her lead, we know that it will happen!

Love,

Wayne, Diane, Shannon, Danielle, Jay, John, Nathan, Emma & Sloan

Interested in keeping up with the event

We will be blogging the lead up to the event here so check back as often as you'd like.