Empowering Young Sierra Leoneans through Fashion

Joan Adama Kainessie is a local designer and entrepreneur. "As a girl, whenever my Dad would buy me (fabric), I'd take a pencil and draw what I wanted (the tailor) to sew. Later, when my step mum set up a shop, I was excited about having my clothes made right in front of me. So, I sat and watched her. 

"When my mum closed the shop, I would (make clothes) and sell them to my friends at college. Eventually, my drawing book became my treasure. People were hiring me to do their designs and before I knew it, I started realizing a huge amount of money. Now, I encourage young people to grow so that they could hit the road to empowerment as I did years back." 







Joan is teaching everything she has learned to six apprentices, who take home up to 300,000 Leones a month. They work on all kinds of designs in the workshop as they train to be dressmakers and tailors. Customers pay anything from 15,000 Leones for fabric and accessories to over 80,000 Leones for more intricate designs.

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