LIFE & CULTURESUSTAINABLE
BUSINESSAS A MODEL FOR THINKING BEYOND FOREIGN AID
A Japanese woman has been supporting the activities ofvillagers in the Republic of Ghana under the slogan“Go beyond aid and be self-sustainable by 2022.”

JAPANGHANA

MY DREAM.org is a nongovernmentalorganization(NGO) operated by membersof the village of Bognayili inGhana. The NGO’s aim is toincrease proceeds earned throughlocal businesses and improvethe environment in whichchildren grow up and pursue

Top: The board members of MY DREAM.org. From left,
Cecilia Dei-Anang, Zakaria Sayibu and HARA Yukari.
Bottom: MY DREAM School began holding lessons
before it even had desks. Today the children learn at desks
as they chase their dreams.

their dreams without relying ondonations. HARA Yukari is a
joint representative director of theNGO, sharing the responsibility
with village resident and leader
Zakaria Sayibu.
Hara previously worked forJapan’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, during which time sheundertook post-graduate studies
in global health at a university in
the United States. In 2012, whilestill a post-graduate student,
Hara interned at an NGO in
Bognayili. Despite her confidence
that she “surely could contribute
somehow,” it was rather she herself
who was helped by people in thevillage, as she could not speak
their language, nor even makeher own meals. Nevertheless,the villagers helped Hara by
warmly welcoming her. Wishing
to reciprocate their goodwill,
Hara helped the village establish
a kindergarten schoolhouse that
had been long wished for. She
created a website to explain theproject and collect donations, andconsequently the schoolhouse wasbuilt. It was from that endeavorthat MY DREAM.org originated.
Since then, the villagers ofBognayili have undertaken more
projects to improve the village’s
health, sanitation and education
environments. Hara, who wasposted to the Japanese Embassyin Ghana following her studies,also applied her knowledge
and experiences to assist thoseprojects, visiting the village one
weekend each month. For the firsttwo years, the funding for theseprojects was entirely sourced fromdonations, but the villagers argued,“If we rely on donations, we can’tcontinue the activities.” Then,in 2014, the NGO commencedIncome-Generation Activities, aproject aimed at creating funding
through local businesses. Hara
proposed to add values to andselling the shea butter which had
been traditionally produced in thevillage, and provided guidance tothe village women on improving
their sewing skills to create

Part of Proudly from Africa’s fine selection of
fashion items and cosmetics.

garments and bags from African
Print. By selling products withtrue appeal and quality rather
than charity items, the mindset of
Bognayili villagers has graduallychanged.
In 2015, Hara left the Ministryof Foreign Affairs and in 2018
founded SKYAH Co., Ltd.,a company that operates theshopping site “Proudly fromAfrica.” Exclusively showcasing
the highest quality merchandise
carefully selected by Hara andcurators across Africa, the site
provides the Bognayili womenwith the aim to someday havetheir own products of their
original brands showcased at
Proudly from Africa. “Recently,
even the children in Bognayili are
getting inspired by the women’s
enthusiasm and declaring theirown dream: ‘I want to be aseamstress too!’ One of theobjectives of MY DREAM.org
is to create an environment inwhich the village children candiscover and live their dreams. Itis therefore important that theyfind people around them whomthey can admire as role models.
You could say that Proudly fromAfrica is one of the exit strategies
for MY DREAM,” Hara explains.
If the local children areencouraged to study with dreams
in their hearts, further sustainablebusinesses might sprout up in thevillage in the future. Hara saysthat the frequency of her visits toBognayili is gradually decreasing,and her goal is for one day to be
told by the residents of Bognayili,“We can now manage without

HARA YUKARI
Founder & CEO of SKYAH Co., Ltd.,and joint representative director of MYDREAM.org, a Ghanaian NGO. She
joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in2009. In 2012, she started activities in
Bognayili Village, Ghana, and founded
MY DREAM.org. After leaving theMinistry of Foreign Affairs in 2015, shecontinued NGO activities while working
in the Johannesburg Branch Office ofMitsui & Co., Ltd. She became an
independent entrepreneur in 2018.

you coming to the village.” Whenthat day arrives, we can certainly
treat it as the achievement of oneof the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). Women sewing at the MY DREAM Factory in
Bognayili village. The women find various ways torecycle fabrics and save on sourcing materials.