Akosua Edwards is about to embark on a full-circle journey to Africa. A passionate advocate for women and girls, she first visited the continent ten years ago while studying for her PhD at England’s Manchester Metropolitan University. Her thesis on women’s entrepreneurial success in the Caribbean and diaspora led her to volunteer with an organisation that supported displaced women from several countries including Africa.
She ended up working in Uganda for almost two years as a gender specialist, focusing on gender equity and strategic planning. Her unique experiences there sparked a profound sense of self-discovery and purpose, reminding her of the power of community and contributing to something larger than herself. Inspired by her new found mission, a renewed Edwards returned to Trinidad in 2014 and founded Nina, a young women’s leadership programme designed to empower girls in the State-care system and those transitioning from it at age 18.
Now, a decade later, Edwards, originally from Cocoyea Village, San Fernando, will next month return to the continent to present at the upcoming SVRI forum in Cape Town, South Africa - the world’s largest abstract driven conference on violence against women and children driven by gender inequality in low-and middle-income countries. Her presentation is themed: Supporting Adolescent Girls Empowerment Approaches to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls in the Caribbean. Nina is currently the only foundation from Trinidad and Tobago chosen to present at the SVRI forum.
It is also the sole local recipient of the WithHer Fund — a partnership between the UN Foundation and the Spotlight Initiative. “This is a unique opportunity for Nina to be showcased to the world and make a pitch for additional support and funding,” Edwards tells Her. The WithHer Fund aims to equip small, grassroots women’s organisations on the frontlines of ending gender-based violence and violence against women and girls with the resources they need to continue their critical work.
Grantees were also chosen from Argentina, Belize, El Salvador, Malawi, and Mali. Edwards, a soon-to-be recipient of the Emerging Leader Award from the International Women’s Forum of Trinidad and Tobago (IWFTT), will be in the company of international leading researchers, activists, practitioners, policymakers, United Nations agencies, journalists, donors, and private sector agencies. “Sometimes we return where we began, but stronger,” she declares.
Since inception, Nina has worked tirelessly to empower 200 women, helping them to gain employment, improve their mental health and pursue tertiary education. Most of the girls’ life stories are marked by hardship, Edwards shares. Family violence, sexual abuse, neglect, and parental mental health issues are among the most prevalent.
Consequently, Edwards’ programme takes a holistic approach to support, providing emotional trauma counselling, life skills training, entrepreneurship education and workshops on wide-ranging topics including self-advocacy and building a life vision. “Some girls have been under State care since they were babies, some have parents who are in prison,” she says, adding that, “there are other instances where young girls fall into bad company and their families choose to put them under State care, some have no knowledge of their families.” At Nina, there’s plenty of fun times too.
Sundays are special occasions for the 19 young women currently enrolled in the programme. Weekly, they traverse the breadth of Trinidad, visiting places like Dolphins in Oropouche, San Salvador Estate in Gran Couva, Maracas Waterfalls, and other picteresque spaces. “Two Sundays a month brings us all together to strengthen bonds, spend time with each other and learn,” Edwards explains.
“The day starts off with yoga and meditation, a facilitated session with our in-house psychologist around a theme such as ‘starting over’ or ‘healthy relationships’, and we end the day with some dancing.” Their latest outing took place at La Soledad Estate, in Maracas, where the group focused on self-advocacy and building a life vision. Edwards’ own journey has been marked by resilience and determination, which she believes has shaped her into the strong advocate she is today.
In her younger days, she studied abroad, earned a bachelor’s in Accounting and a Master’s in Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprise Development. She got married, explored, and experienced a good life. However, upon returning to Trinidad, things went downhill — she lost her job and her house and got divorced.
Reflecting on those challenging times, Edwards recalls, “It was quite tough, I felt like an absolute failure. I was disappointed that the plans I believed were the foolproof formula for success did not work. No one is exempt from life’s experiences.
No matter who you are, what you have, where you are, you will experience loss, betrayal, joy, love, success, failure and change. But once we are here in human form, having this experience called life, we are built for it, and can handle it all with a strong sense of self.” As Nina continues to expand its reach and impact, Edwards encourages others to lend their support to give even more women a chance at a better future.
As a current hybrid system, Nina is actively seeking a permanent, physical space to house the girls, and donations of toiletries, food, and mentorship are also greatly needed. “Right now, our programme is a weekly roving approach where we introduce the girls to safe spaces of beauty and nature, but we really would like somewhere to call our own. If we want to level the playing field; to live in a country that supports those citizens who need it, there is a responsibility to pitch in however we can, in whatever way we can,” says Edwards.
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