Coronavirus: Meet the school owner who is now grilling meat to survive

She is young, she is innovative and she is adventurous. Having taken over from her retired mother; who began as a ‘nanny’ for her colleague nurses, Ruth Okaniorkor Adjetey decided to expand the initiative and start a pre-school.

For three years, her school; the Garnet Beginners Academy has trained toddlers from 3 months to about 6 years, using practicality and creativity.

With about 10 staff now and adequate growth, she decided to gather the proceeds of her work over the years to invest, make more on the monies and expand the school, on a bigger piece of land.

In February, she took the bold step, put the monies in a long-term investment account, knowing very little that her livelihood would be put on hold soon enough.

Then in March, Coronavirus came in, leading to the closure of all schools in the country, per government’s directives.

Over three months, this was the case. She had to pay salaries, still find a way to help her pupils study through e-learning, and keep paying for taxes and SSNIT.

The money in reserve which she was sustaining the school with, was exhausted shortly after. She was broke and had to find an alternative to survive; that's where the idea to get into food production came in.

Today, she grills different kinds of meat delicacies to serve customers in their homes.

From her 'home kitchen', she transforms raw duck, quail, pork, and other meats into tasty little chops for money.

"It was my last 300 Ghana cedis. One Sunday morning, I woke up from bed and realised all I had left was 300 cedis. I knew if that money was finished, I would have to be asking friends and those things are embarrassing. So I asked myself what I have, and what I can do with it," she narrated.

With her phone for social media advertising, her kitchen available, and a loan for a grill, she put herself together, asked around for a farm with the animals she wanted, and "voila! here we are; mymeatgh" she said.

She has so far been able to connect to restaurant owners and other customers via her Instagram handle; @mymeatgh, and that's how she's making money till Coronavirus goes away, and all schools are reopened.

GhanaWeb met with Ruth and she tells her story in this interview: