Sis Yamah
Many girls are expected to stay at home to cook, clean, wash clothes and take care of the younger children, while boys went to school. Upon meeting a fellow primary school teacher in her village, Yamah Zawu (known as “Sis Yamah”), everything changed. Sis Yamah was also very aware of the challenges that the girls in her community faced and wanted to take action. Sis Yamah and Charlene decided to join forces, and Bosh Bosh was created.
“I remember asking one of my female students why she was late to school one morning. When she answered, I learned that she had to do household chores in the morning, while also tending to her 7 siblings, all before setting off for a two hour walk to school because her parents couldn’t afford to live near. Her parents earned less than $1 a day. I knew deep down inside that I wanted to do something about it.”
The Girls Club
Bosh Bosh began as a small Girls Club in Salala, Liberia to teach sewing skills and make products to sell, with the goal of raising funds to sponsor girls to go school. The Girls Club started with a bag of scraps of lappa (Liberian phrase for African textiles), some needles and thread and hand-sewing lessons taught in the local school library. By June of 2013, Bosh Bosh had opened its own sewing classroom and was registered as a Liberian NGO under the name Bosh Bosh, Inc. In February 2016, amid many friends and much celebration, we opened our very first Bosh Bosh Boutique in Liberia’s Capital city, Monrovia. Bosh Bosh is now also expanding their scholarship program to girls in Baja California, Mexico!.
The Bosh Bosh Brand
Now, Bosh Bosh is an ethical fashion brand and nonprofit organization based in the United States that unites people from all over the world who believe that poverty can be alleviated by empowering women and girls through education and economic development. We use social enterprise as a way to create opportunities for Liberian and Mexican women and girls in education, livelihood creation, and vocational training. We want girls to take charge of their own futures and empower themselves, their communities, and their world.
Educate.Empower.Inspire.
We use education, business, and fashion to provide our members with vocational training, access to extra-curricular educational opportunities, scholarships, and employment.
Bosh Bosh exists because we believe that when you educate one girl or one woman, you’re not only educating one person, but her entire village, her entire country, and our entire world.
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