Since the 80’s teenage girls have been migrating from Ghana’s northern regions to the capital Accra in search of employment opportunities to escape poverty, early marriage and conflict in their villages. 
Many of these young women have no formal education and on their arrival to Accra often end up working as kayayei (female head porters). For long hours in the sweltering heat, the kayayei carry goods on their heads throughout Accra’s busy markets for as little as few cedis a day (less than a dollar). Some loads weigh more than 120 pounds and the kayayie need to do a lot of trips a day to survive. 
It is estimated there are more than 160,000 kayayei in Accra.