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Every day, young girls generally between 14 and 16 years old migrate from the rural areas of northern Ghana to the urban centres of the south: Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi. There, they work in markets or on the streets as head load carriers (kayaye), informal petty traders, domestic assistants to traders, and in other menial jobs. In the best of cases, they become domestic workers.
Their goals are as varied as their jobs. Many see the kayaye experience as an opportunity to acquire the items they need to build up their marriage dowry. Others are escaping forced marriage, while still others wish to buy second-hand clothes and start a small business once back home. Some claim they want to collect money to pay school fees for themselves or their brothers and sisters.
