Like many young women of humble origin in Ghana, Afriyie had been apprenticed to a seamstress, the common title for a dressmaker. She became an exceptional craftswoman and practiced her craft successfully in both Ghana and England, but when it came to taking an apprentice herself, she found it much more difficult in England.
The unofficial agreement between a self-employed seamstress and her apprentice, followed an established pattern that was widely applied throughout the informal sector of the economy in many trades pursued by both men and women. The training usually lasted five years, at the end of which the apprentice was expected to leave to set up her own business. Exploiting a situation in which alternative paid employment was not available, the apprentice was paid no wages, but was usually given a little ‘chop money’ to buy food.
The problem of establishing one’s own business was always a lack of capital. Having been paid nothing during the apprenticeship the trainee had no savings. Some young women were helped by their families and some by a boyfriend, but many were forced to try to stay with their mistress beyond the normal five years. If they were both skilful and lucky, they might be kept on as a paid assistant but jobs were scarce and poorly paid. Afriyie was lucky to be helped by Kwame Mainu when she moved to Tema to help him look after his young daughter, Akosua. Her business flourished for a few years and Afriyie trained apprentices in her turn.
When Kwame travelled to Cranfield to study for his master’s degree, Afriyie went with him. She kept herself busy and supplement their modest income by offering dressmaking services to the academic community, adjusting today’s fashions to suit yesterday’s dimensions, and introducing Ghanaian style dresses to those ladies who had given up the struggle. This was work she could do at home, but with ample opportunity to display her creations at various social gatherings at the university.
After a few years back in Tema, Kwame and Afriyie returned to England and Kwame took up an academic appointment at Warwick University. Although there was no longer any pressing economic necessity, Afriyie revived her dressmaking activity to fill her otherwise idle hours and keep in practice. Her Ghanaian-style dresses proved as popular as before and she was soon getting enough commissions to fully occupy her nimble fingers. Inevitably, her thoughts turned to employing an apprentice.
It wasn’t easy to bring a young relative from Ghana but after some time Elsie arrived to fill the role. Afriyie was expecting the same sort of arrangement as applied between mistress and apprentice in Ghana, but meeting other young women at church, Elsie soon had other ideas. She demanded a proper wage and when this was not forthcoming she ran away to find a better job. The skills of a good dressmaker may be equally appreciated in Ghana and England, but running a dressmaking business is very different.
