About the Author
Hayley Sarpong is a British Ghanaian midwife and founder of MW2Ghana, a grassroots initiative connecting UK and Ghanaian midwives to share knowledge and improve maternity care. She also runs HeyHayleys, a blog empowering women through healing and storytelling.
Instagram: @heyhayleys_
MW2Ghana Instagram: @mw2ghana
Please note that this article contains references to sexual abuse. For support on this topic, please contact the organisations below.
The Survivors Trust is a national membership organisation supporting specialist rape and sexual abuse services in the voluntary sector. They have over 120 member organisations throughout the UK and Ireland who provide specialist support services to over 100,000 survivors each year.
You can also call The Samaritans on 116 123. This number is free to call from both landlines and mobiles, including pay-as-you-go mobiles. You do not need to have any credit or call allowance on your plan. They offer a safe place for you to talk any time you like, in your own way – about whatever’s getting to you.
Have you ever felt your career calling you somewhere you least expected? For me, it was back to Ghana, and it took me 13 years.
You are probably asking yourself- why 13 years? Why Ghana? Well, let’s rewind and get to know a little bit about me and what I do.
Hi, I’m Hayley Sarpong, a midwife for over three years. A British Ghanaian, so I’m basically the combination of Jollof rice and bangers and mash (classic). Growing up was like a rollercoaster; it wasn’t easy. I had some great times and some terrible ones. I experienced things that have shaped me into the leader I am today, but during those years, I slowly grew out of love with anything to do with Ghana. Ghana, Ghana, Ghana… shhhhh.
Fast forward to when life was throwing everything at me. I remember thinking, “It can’t get any worse than this” (never say that). When I was 15, I was sexually abused. I shut the world out, thinking if I ignored it long enough, it would disappear. But life has a way of circling back. For years, I acted like nothing happened — I finished secondary school and sixth form with great grades. I was drowning on the inside but thriving in academics.
Becoming a Midwife and Addressing Trauma
Then came university, my dream course: midwifery. I’d wanted to be a midwife since I was six years old, after watching my mum have a quick delivery in our flat at the time. Now, I have a question: who forgot to tell me that university is not just academically challenging, but mentally too? It forced me to face everything that I had done so well to bury. At that point, I decided to make a choice: was I going to drown, or was I going to start my healing journey? I was so used to drowning that starting the healing journey looked like a deserted island. Regardless, I took that step.
This journey hasn’t been easy at all, but it has allowed me to be open with myself, and so when I graduated from university and started working as a midwife, I hated it. I was one of the people googling different roles on a night shift. I hated it because I couldn’t catch a break. I’d lost my love for being with women, and my personal life was in chaos.
Around that time, I quietly started therapy, something still seen as taboo in my community. My therapist encouraged me to journal, and that simple act unlocked something powerful within me.
Fast forward to 2023, journaling away, having only been a midwife for just over a year at this point, I still wanted nothing to do with Ghana. A colleague had been encouraging me to give Ghana a second chance, and I don’t know why I agreed to go with them in January 2024, but I did.
That same year – November 1st, 2023, celebrating 9 years as a rape survivor – I decided that I wanted to share my story with the world through writing blogs. I’d realised that within the Black African community, women are often taught to stay silent about abuse, trauma, and healing. There aren’t many of us who speak openly about it. I had already taken the big step by admitting to myself that I needed therapy, so I thought if I’ve got the confidence to say ‘ I need help’, then I am going to be the ‘black sheep’ and break some barriers. Maybe, just maybe, I could use this to create change or even find a new career path.
January 2024 came, and I stepped foot in Ghana after 13 years. I was home, I felt the peace, I felt like I belonged, I felt united. Going back was a puzzle to my healing journey that had been located, and after I came back, I was a different person; there was a shift in who I was and my purpose. It was really a new year, a new me and everything I said I was going to do, I did.
I launched HeyHayleys Instagram and blog site, which is written by a black woman for all women, on the 1st November 2024, 10 years as a survivor. And that was the hardest thing I’ve done, proving to myself that I could make an impact was like a catalyst starter.
The Birth of MW2Ghana
Obviously now in love with Ghana, I went again for Jubilation January 2025. This time, instead of having my party, eating and exploring mindset, I had my eating, exploring, and how I can make an impact mindset. That’s when the idea hit: let’s give midwifery another try… in Ghana. Let’s volunteer in a space where midwifery skills are deeply practised, unlike in the UK, where care is more obstetric-led. Let’s exchange skills, share knowledge, and raise funds to help provide essentials — things like bed sheets, incontinence pads, and sanitary items, that women often have to bring themselves.
I came back to the cold UK and spoke to a few colleagues who were instantly onboard. That was the birth of MW2Ghana.
At first, it was easy, the honeymoon phase of excitement. Then reality hit. I had set a £5,000 fundraising goal, and I’d never led a project like this before. I had to ask myself – what now?
What started as a simple idea became something much bigger than me. I found myself learning skills I never thought I’d need: marketing, fundraising, networking, and leadership — all while still doing shifts as a midwife. There were moments when I questioned myself: “Who told me to start a project this big?” But each time I felt like giving up, I remembered why I started: to give back, to learn, and to build bridges between midwives in the UK and Ghana.
The response has been incredible. Friends, colleagues, and even strangers have supported the mission, whether through donations, attending our events, messages of encouragement, or offering to volunteer. It reminded me that when your purpose aligns with your passion, the right people will always find their way to you.
Now, as January 2026 approaches, I’m preparing to go back to Ghana, not just as Hayley the midwife, but as someone who has healed, grown, and is ready to give. This trip feels like the next chapter, not just for me but for every woman we’ll meet and every midwife we’ll work alongside. For me, MW2Ghana isn’t just about volunteering; it’s about connection, learning, and reminding ourselves why we chose this career in the first place. Sometimes, you have to leave home to find yourself, and sometimes, you have to go back home to remember who you’ve always been.
If I hadn’t taken the leap to be confident in my truth, to say out loud that I am a survivor of sexual abuse, I don’t think I would’ve ever had the courage to start a grassroots project like this. This is just the start of MW2Ghana! Follow us on our journey on Instagram to keep up with where the project takes us.
And, if you’ve been waiting for a sign to start something, let my story be the nudge you need. Healing can become your power.
