Introducing Nancy Jah
- ellenarnison
- Mar 20
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 27
Nancy is one of Prosper's longest-standing trainers
Nancy Jah has been a facilitator of the image-based training system since 2016 and is passionate about the transformation it can bring to women in Sierra Leone.
“My favourite thing is working with disadvantaged women in the community. In fact, when it comes to holidays or days when I won’t be in the community, I don’t feel so good because I want to be with the women. It’s a fascinating job. I love it so much.”
The way the image-based system is used to prompt participants' thinking is completely different to the kinds of teaching people are used to.
Nancy explained: “Each time we show participants these images, they are able to interpret the pictures because they are very bold and clear.
“If you go to school, they will force you to write and to start with small things. But with our unique training tools we use images to ask leading questions which trigger people’s minds so they can think deeply and respond for themselves.
“So many women are too shy to speak in public but because we encourage them to talk in the training space and ask so many questions, they start to see that they have their own power – they learn that they have the right to speak out for what they need.”
She loves seeing how much women enjoy the training and the difference it makes to their lives and hopes to continue with her work for as long as she can.
Her role means she has to travel the country – often on the back of a motor bike because roads are too bad for other vehicles – to get to the communities she supports. This is a mixed blessing. She enjoys visiting people beyond Kenema Township and the village where she was born, but the travel on rough roads, especially in the rainy season, are arduous.
She said: “It’s very, very challenging, but you have to adapt to it to reach every community we want to. I manage because I have a passion for the job and I need to get there.
“I don’t mind about the roads because we want to extend our work to so many districts and empower the women there. The women we have worked with love this training and it’s already improving their lives. I never want to stop doing this.”
