Sew Good!
As a novice seamstress - and I really mean novice - I was very pleased to read the following article.
AL-KUT, Iraq (April 16, 2008) – A women’s sewing center officially opened in Muafiqiyah village on April 10, providing both employment and training for female residents.
The center will serve as a means for local women to earn income to support their families, said Sgt. Amanda E. Timmer, head of the Women’s Initiatives program for the Wasit provincial reconstruction team.
The center employs 11 women from the village, one for each sewing machine. Eventually these women will take apprentices, doubling the workforce, said Timmer.
“The plan is not only to employ women, but to train them, provide them a skill,” Timmer said.
Selection for the initial group was specifically aimed at single mothers whose spouses had died and who had no other means to provide for their families, said Timmer.
This is the first project in Muafiqiyah the PRT has undertaken, said Timmer, and was used to establish a relationship with the village.
The project resulted from collaboration between local leaders in the village, the PRT and the Wasit provincial council.
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Timmer said the sewing center will be overseen and run by Ahmad Nouri Ali al-Yasiri, head of the Muafiqiyah local council. All the materials currently at the center where provided by the council and will be used by the women to create clothing, she said.
The clothing produced by the women will be sold locally and - if there is a demand - at the al-Kut markets, said al-Yasiri. The council will oversee sales, with part of the profits going to maintain the center, fund operations and purchase materials.
The remaining income will be handed over to the women to support their families. In this way, Timmer said, the center not only supports the women, but allows them to contribute to the community.
Years ago I had a good friend who made frequent missionary trips to different areas in Africa setting up sewing centers. The project she worked with and helped to establish was called “The Dorcas Project.” There are many programs around with that name, but she chose that name for her program after “Tabitha” in the book of Acts in the Holy Scriptures. Tabitha translates to “Dorcas,” and the woman herself was a very kind and giving woman, and she was also raised from the dead. Dorcas fed the hungry, clothed the naked and she aided the widow. I hope that this program below will give the women in Iraq a fighting chance to feed their families by earning a living as they learn a trade. What a great opportunity for the women in Iraq, and a great opportunity for philanthropists here to give to a great program.
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