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Success Story
USAID program helps
Liberians expand
business and train new
apprentices
Reviving Rural Artisans in Rebuilding Liberia
Photo: LCIP
Blacksmith Saah Fassi in his expanded
workshop with his wife and children along
with three employees who also have
polio. The USAID-sponsored certified
vocational trainer is wearing the yellow
work suit.
“I feel fortunate to have had
the opportunity to expand
my business through this
USAID-funded program,”
said Saah Fassi, a Liberian
blacksmith.
Saah Fassi is a professional blacksmith in Foya, Lofa County,
Liberia. Although he does not know his exact age, Fassi does
know that he apprenticed in his youth for almost a decade. He
estimates he has been a master blacksmith for more than three
decades and might be in his late 50’s. He is married, and he and
his wife have five children, two boys and three girls.
During the Liberian confl ict, which ended in 2003, Fassi and his
family fled over the nearby border to Guinea. Upon returning
to Liberia, he practiced his trade in a hut. Fassi has faced
additional challenges in his life beyond the unrest in his country.
He contracted polio as a child, and the viral infection debilitated
his legs. As a result, he cannot stand, and he walks on his
knees.
Fassi was connected with a USAID program aimed at helping
returning Liberians generate income and create jobs. USAID
invested in Fassi’s blacksmith business and provided him with
training in exchange for him training apprentices. Fassi has
since employed five of the eight apprentices who trained in his
shop; three of his new employees are also people with physical
disabilities.
Even before the USAID program ended, the increased capacity
of his business allowed him to accept several large orders for
agricultural tools; the first order worth $1,650 came from the
Adventist Disaster Relief Association (ADRA). Fassi is strict
about quality control. He received three orders from ADRA, and
he received an $1,800 order from German aid agency GTZ to
produce 600 hoes. GTZ originally requested 1,000 hoes but
Fassi, wanting to deliver high quality tools and recognizing his
shop’s capacity, limited the order to 600.
There are 25 people with physical disabilities in the Foya
community and Fassi is a tremendous role model for them and
the young people in general who see his success would not be
possible without his determination and hard work. Print-friendly version of this page (533kb - PDF)
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