As Emmanuella’s Business Grows, So Does Her Son’s Care

In a small workshop in Bamenda, Emmanuella Berry recently completed the largest order of her career: 100 school uniforms for this year’s back-to-school season. The client found her on Facebook, where she now shares her designs every day.

Emmanuella founded her tailoring business, Lady E-Design, in 2011. When she joined eBASE Africa’s WAKKA project in 2018, she was working on a manual sewing machine and looking for ways to better support her family, including her youngest son, who lives with a disability. During regular household visits, community health workers shared evidence-based recommendations on his health, education and wellbeing, and scored how well the family put them into practice. Her progress earned her a seed fund, followed by further support that eventually reached one million FCFA. She invested it in industrial sewing machines and stock.

At regular WAKKA meetings with eBASE Africa, she then learned to photograph her work, tell the story behind each design, and use AI to reach new clients online. “Before, I didn’t understand what AI means,” she says. “Now I can use it.”

The change reaches well beyond her workshop. As her income grows, so does her ability to cover her son’s schooling, healthcare and physiotherapy. She is training young apprentices of her own, and as WAKKA enters a new phase with WAKKA Inclusive Njangi in the Centre and South regions, she has offered to mentor its participants.

Watch Emmanuella’s story here.