©InfoThere is nothing fake about Zoe’s smile, even if her D&G headband may not be totally legit. In a country with 85 per cent unemployment, where high fashion is hardly a priority, Zoe’s tailoring business seems to be thriving.
As she bounces her baby on her hip, chatting and laughing with customers, it seems unlikely that her childhood years involved the tragedy and trauma of growing up during the civil war.
“Because of the conflict, we had to flee to a camp for displaced people,” she explains. “While there, my mother had a problem with her heart and she died. A few days after this, the camp was attacked by fighters and we had to move to the central stadium in Monrovia. That was where my younger brother died.”
After the conflict
©InfoAfter the fighting, Zoe and the rest of her family returned to their community. Although she wanted to go to school her father was unemployed and couldn’t afford to pay for her.
“There was nothing for me to do, it was just an everyday idle life. Then I started to mingle with some friends who were living on the streets and I left home. My father was not happy and several times came after me to encourage me to come back.
"But it wasn’t until I met my friends who were going to the child advocacy and rehabilitation centre, that I decided that’s what I wanted to do, and I finally came back home.”
Zoe’s friends explained that she would have to be assessed by the Red Cross before she could register for the one-year course. “Luckily, in November 2007, the Red Cross came to my community. They interviewed me and I qualified and was able to put in for the tailoring class,” she says with a smile.
Life-changing experience
©Info“Once I started the programme I was doing all these activities, education in numeracy and literacy, training in tailoring, and we played games too. Before I had been doing nothing and during the year my life began to change with everything I learned.
“I also appreciated the counselling I received. When you enter the programme you are given someone who is like an adopted parent, a counsellor, who looks after you.
“My counsellor was always concerned about my regular attendance and every Wednesday we would meet to discuss any issues affecting me, she gave me a lot of encouragement and strength.
“I also enjoyed the happiness of the staff, there was so much play and fun which helped to lift me up. But mostly I am grateful for the skill I learned in tailoring, which has brought a great change to my life. Today, my father can entrust me with the home, he can leave me to look after my siblings and with my tailoring business I can contribute to the upkeep of my family.”
More about the child advocacy and rehabilitation programme