Trade Training for African Youth

Due to Covid-19 (Corona virus), The workshop and all training at Trade Training for African Youth has had to close for the foreseeable future. At this time (June 2021) we are open in a limited capacity.

Trade Training for African Youth (TTFAY) trains unemployed and homeless gay youth in Tema, Ghana (both male and female) in an automotive trade of their choosing. Although we only train in automotive trades at present, we are open to all gay youth both male and female to learn all forms of trade. TTFAY supplies all the costs of training, work clothing and safety wear including safety boots, health care, wages, holiday pay, sick pay, and supplies each apprentice with their own tool kit suitable for their trade. We also supply housing where needed in specially converted shipping containers. It costs on average US$15,000 per year per youth, to run these training courses which are carried out at the local Tema Technical Institute and all costs involved with operating the workshop and their welfare. We are currently trying to organize Covid-19 vaccinations for all of our boys (Average cost per boy is 1600ghs or $400 each. Their Government does not subsidize.)

Current funds are now almost gone and if we cannot find the funds to continue by October of this year, then the workshop will have to close; which will be a shame. Gay men in Africa have difficulty finding work and also working in a safe environment for themselves and TTFAY gives them a safe place to work.

An update:- I have managed to get funding for another year and I have now organized for a second workshop to open in an area close to Tema called Ashaiman. This new workshop will open officially on 1st July 2021 with 3 of the trained boys. It will be called MMS Mechanical Services (Matthew, Maxwell and Samuel Mechanical Services). Each boy will now become an equal partner in the new workshop.

Matthew Arthur is now 34 years old and qualified through TTI as a Diesel Fitter and General Mechanic and will become the Foreman of the new workshop. Matthew has been with us for 6 years and completed his trade through TTFAY. Matthew will become the Foreman of the new workshop.

Maxwell Eshun is now 20 years old and has been with TTFAY and CKL Mechanical Services for 4 years. He is now only a couple of months off being fully qualified as an Auto Electrician at TTI; his course was interrupted due to Covid. Maxwell lives in a converted 10ft shipping container on site.

Samuel Opokuagah is 29 years old. Samuel joined TTFAY as a trainee manager and also as an apprentice General Mechanic. Samuel is not a gay man but was a friend of several of the boys and was unemployed and homeless. Samuel now is a qualified Small Business Manager through TTI and has managed TTFAY for 12 months and will own and manage the new workshop in Ashaiman and will also manage the other workshop in Tema. He is currently organizing the equipping and locating of modular buildings to the new site (a photo of the new site is shown in the photos on this website). Samuel is going to live on-site in a new specially converted shipping container.

TTFAY Tema is located near the Tema Harbor Industrial complex and has workshops for General Mechanical service and repairs, Motor Cycle service and repairs, Auto Electrical service and repairs and also Auto Air conditioning service and installation, and qualified to carry out all Diesel Service and repairs.

Peter Coffie is now 34 years old and a qualified General mechanic, Diesel fitter and Forklift Operator all qualified through TTI and is now Foreman and part owner of the workshop known as CKL mechanical Services. CKL Mechanical Services carries out all training for TTFAY.

Francis Kwofie is a qualified General mechanic and Auto Electrician and Air Conditioning Specialist; all qualified through TTI. Francis is now an equal partner in CKL mechanical Services where TTFAY training is carried out.

Daniel Appia is 19 years old and an apprentice Motor Cycle mechanic (TTFAY bought him a scooter for his own use so he could also test motor cycles when under repair). Daniel is currently at TTI learning his trade which was to have been for 2 years but due to Covic-19 the course has been extended for another 2 years. Daniel lives with his parents.

The Government of Ghana have draconian laws that imprison gay men for up to 5 years but many are injured or even stoned to death by their communities. TTFAY provides them with a safe working environment, a safe place to sleep and a masculine trade that will support them for life. Our first workshop (CKL mechanical Services or Coffie, Kwofie and Lesbirel Mechanical Services) will now remain with 3 boys, Peter Coffie, Francis Kwofie and Daniel Appia as our new apprentice and all are to become equal partners in the scaled down workshop. Daniel joined us in September of 2018 as an apprentice Motor Cycle Mechanic and due to Covid-19 has had his TTI (Tema Technical Institute) course interrupted for several months but his knowledge is excellent and we now consider him qualified but to complete his TTI course.

Apprentices in Ghana have to be bonded to a master and work for no pay, surviving on tips from clients. When their apprenticeship is complete, they then have to pay to be released, and as they receive no pay, it is difficult for them to get release so work for life as unpaid workers, and even though there are laws in Ghana to protect them, the Government does not supervise these laws so the employers are never prosecuted.

TTFAY pay the apprentices a living wage each week (equivalent to an adult wage of a taxi driver in Ghana) which lifts each year after completion of the training. When they qualify, TTFAY offer them an area in the workshop where they can earn a living and charge a weekly lease fee, taken from the payments for work completed. For a tradesman to open their own workshop, they have to find a piece of land or a shed and pay lease fees 2 years in advance, so many cannot open their own business; TTFAY pay this lease in advance and they pay off the lease on a weekly basis. This is also the way normal lease for rooms are carried out in Ghana and for them to pay a 2 year lease in advanced makes fining somewhere to live almost impossible; that is why TTFAY provide homes for these boys.

Currently TTFAY have 3 qualified tradesmen covering Auto Electrical, Diesel fitting and General mechanics. It also has 3 apprentices, an Auto Electrician; Maxwell, A General mechanic; Samuel who is also our qualified manager and a Motor Cycle Mechanic; Daniel. As an apprentice becomes qualified, he then takes on an apprentice in his trade and paid by TTFAY, trains him without any burden on himself but is a payment back to TTFAY for their help in training him.

This cause is not a registered charity and not registered as a Not-For-Profit organization as the costs of doing so are prohibitive and money better spent on the welfare of the youth it hopes to help. This is a private plea for help and you cannot get any tax benefit; just your own feeling on knowing you have helped others to support themselves. We are not a scam and I am open fully to be scrutinized through Googling me on the internet.

This is a genuine cause and not the usual African scam and you can check me out by checking me on Google Search;

Phillip Lesbirel Bio

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/skinphil

https://www.amazon.com/Phillip-Lesbirel/e/B005IZQBO6%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Why am I doing this? I am a Christian and it is the right thing for a Christian to do; to help those who cannot help themselves regardless of where they live. I am a gay man and I feel obliged to help other gay men in societies that will not help them or their sexuality to be recognized legally. I feel obligated to assist those who ask for my help and do so willingly and sometimes to my financial detriment, but I will not forego my responsibilities to these boys. If I do manage to raise funds to assist these boys, then I will open more workshops; train more gay men and women to live with a recognized trade or profession. They cannot help themselves out of poverty but we can do so much to improve their lives; please search your hearts and souls and find it within you to help these gay men.