Like many young women from humble origins in Ghana, Afriyie had been an apprentice seamstress, the common title for a dressmaker. She became an exceptional craftswoman and successfully practiced her craft in both Ghana and England, but when it came time to take an apprenticeship, she found it much more difficult in England.
The unofficial agreement between a freelance seamstress and her apprentice followed an established pattern that was widely applied throughout the informal sector of the economy in many trades for men and women. The training used to last five years, at the end of which the apprentice was expected to leave to start her own business. Taking advantage of a situation where alternative paid employment was not available, the apprentice was not paid any salary, but was usually given some money to buy food.
The problem with setting up your own business has always been a lack of capital. Having paid nothing during the apprenticeship, the apprentice had no savings. Some young women were helped by their families and others by a boyfriend, but many were forced to try to stay with their lover beyond the normal five years. If they were skilled and lucky, they could continue to work as a paid assistant, but the jobs were rare and poorly paid. Afriyie was lucky enough to be helped by Kwame Mainu when she moved to Tema to help him take care of his little daughter, Akosua. Their business prospered for a few years and Afriyie trained apprentices in turn.
When Kwame traveled to Cranfield to study his master’s degree, Afriyie accompanied him. She kept busy and supplemented her modest income by offering tailoring services to the academic community, adjusting today’s fashions to fit yesterday’s dimensions and introducing Ghanaian-style dresses to those ladies who had given up the fight. This was work he could do at home, but with ample opportunities to display his creations at various social gatherings at the university.
After a few years in Tema, Kwame and Afriyie returned to England and Kwame took an academic position at the University of Warwick. Although there was no pressing financial need anymore, Afriyie revived her dressmaking business to fill her leisure hours and stay in business. Her Ghanaian-style dresses proved as popular as before, and she soon received enough commissions to fully occupy her nimble fingers. Inevitably, his thoughts turned to hiring an apprentice.
It was not easy to bring in a young relative from Ghana, but after a while Elsie came to fill the position. Afriyie expected the same kind of arrangement that was applied between lover and apprentice in Ghana, but meeting other young women in the church, Elsie soon had other ideas. She demanded an adequate salary and when this did not come, she ran away in search of a better job. The skills of a good dressmaker can be equally appreciated in Ghana and England, but running a dressmaking business is very different.
