When Dreams Come True

We would like to share with you the story of Premec Creations.  The story of this project is really the story of three people- Martha Bulley, Amy Hubble, and Chelsea Jones and how God has worked in our lives and brought us together.

The story starts with Martha Bulley, a skilled seamstress and artisan fabric maker who works as a teacher at Hope Christian Academy in Ghana.  She is a women of incredible talent and compassion and dedication to providing women with opportunities for a way out of poverty.  She has dreamed of creating a place for women to learn how to create and sew their own fabrics in order to bring positive change into their lives.  Chelsea Jones spent the last two years living and teaching at the Village of Hope orphanage in Ghana, West Africa where she met Martha.  In May, weeks before Chelsea's departure from Ghana, Martha shared with her a dream for a vocational training center.  It is Martha's dream to open a vocational training center in Gomoa-Fetteh (a nearby village) in order to empower women to support themselves and their families.  Chelsea found a place in this story.  Headed back to the states to enter graduate school, she had been seeking an opportunity to stay involved in Ghanaian work. Amy Hubble, a faithful believer and supporter of the ministry in Ghana, also found herself called to partner in this work.  Amy visited Ghana while Chelsea lived there and desired to be involved in development work in Ghana in a meaningful way.  Her experience and knowledge of business management and finances are crucial to the success of this endeavor.  We believe that traditional methods of giving do not provide the kind of resources necessary to truly empower impoverished women to overcome poverty.  Through the development of tangible skill and micro-financing these women will be given the opportunity to change their own lives, and the future of their children.   

Now, 7 months later, Amy and Chelsea are flying to Ghana to make this dream a tangible reality.  Over the past few months God has blatantly poured out his blessings on our vision.  Thanks to the support of many wonderful people the center will open on January 9th to about 15 women from the Fetteh community.  We will be there to help establish the center and will come back with a better idea of what it will take to operate this ministry.  We will have lots of pictures and stories to share when we return!

Every time we have shared this story we have found people ready to share in it with us.  It is incredible how the passion, love, finances, prayers, and talents of so many have already become a part of the center with us. It is because of people like Megan Jeffries and Kristen Caldwell & the Portland Christian Middle School student council, as well as Metro Church of Christ that this center is possible. We are thankful for each of you and your interest and support of this ministry to women across the world.  This story is bigger than us.  We would love for you to be a part of this story.

Project Overview

A community-based poverty reduction and women’s organization is to be established in Gomoa-Fetteh in the Central Region of Ghana. The project will focus on providing training in various vocational training skills such as batik, tie and dye, beading, and sewing to women from extremely low-income areas.  It is expected that through the skills obtained they will be empowered to reduce their level of poverty, thus helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of Women’s Empowerment and Poverty Reduction. 

The project will operate in a series of three-month intensive training sessions in which groups of 15-30 women per session will be trained in the above-mentioned vocational training skills.  During each session, a team of three workers (one full-time and two part-time) will be responsible for providing the trainees with the skills required to make their own products and market them as well.

Over time, it is expected that this project will ultimately improve the financial situation of the women in Gomoa-Fetteh and its surrounding communities, the majority of whom are currently unemployed single mothers. 

Goals & Objectives

The primary goal of the project is to reduce the degree of poverty amongst women in Gomoa-Fetteh and its surrounding villages.  The objectives of the project are as follows:

1.     To provide groups of women with vocational training

2.     To teach these women entrepreneurship skills to enable the turn their acquired vocational skills into income-generating projects

3.     To provide microfinance loans to women who graduate from the program    

Clientele

There are two different target groups for this project.  The primary group consists of single mothers and housewives who are unemployed; the second group is made of Senior High School students and workers who will also train others in the future.  These two groups were identified based on interactions with various members of the community in order to gain an understanding of their economic problems and the interest skills they already have.

Cost to run the center:

How you can support this work:

Checks can be sent through the following church.  Each month checks are sent to the center for monthly needs.  Donations are tax-deductible.  Please make checks out to:

Metro Church of Christ

1525 NW Division St.

Gresham, OR 97030

MEMO LINE: Ghana Premec VTC

Contact Info:

Martha Bulley: premeccreation@gmail.com          Chelsea Jones: chelsea@premeccreations.org
Amy Hubble: amy@premeccreations.org