Sewing training to start again
A few months ago, we started a sewing training with a group of women in Achham, in western Nepal. These are women who have lived through very difficult situations: survivors of child marriage, domestic violence, women on their own, widows or abandoned women.
We did not want to offer just another course. We wanted this training to become a real tool for them to start generating income, gain a little more autonomy and open a new door in a context where opportunities for women are still very limited.
When we work in Achham, we always have to keep the rural calendar in mind. Most of the participants live in communities that survive through subsistence farming. This means they cannot leave their agricultural work at any time: the training has to adapt to the rhythms of the land, the harvests and the planting seasons.
That is why we held the first month of training in the period between the wheat harvest and the beginning of the rice planting season. It was a moment when the women could dedicate some days to learning without putting at risk the basic work that sustains their families.
This August, we will resume the training with a second month of work. It will take place during the monsoon season, when there is less work in the fields and it is more possible for the participants to continue the process.
During the training, be artsy also covers food, accommodation and all the necessary materials. Because if a woman has to leave her home for a few days to receive training, this should not become an extra burden for her.
When they complete this second part, each participant will receive a sewing machine and all the materials needed to start working: fabrics, threads, needles and the basic supplies to put into practice what they have learned.
The idea is simple, but important: they should not leave this process only with training completed, but with a concrete tool in their hands.
A sewing machine may seem like a small thing, but in a rural area of Achham it can mean a lot. It can mean being able to repair clothes, sew for other people, take small orders, start earning some money and, above all, have a little more room to make decisions.
This project is part of the path we are building with Rato Baltin. Because when we talk about menstrual health, education and women’s rights, we are also talking about economic autonomy. We are talking about time, possibilities and the chance to imagine a life with more options.
We still need support to complete this training and deliver all the planned sewing machines and materials. That is why our MiGranoDeArena campaign is still active.