This microproject of the Eldorado Textile Project will provide a two-year vocational training course in textile skills to seven teenagers from the disadvantaged community of Eldorado, Sao Paulo, giving them an opportunity to widen their personal and professional horizons, find meaningful employment and contribute to the local economy.
The community of Eldorado in Diadema on the periphery of Sao Paulo city is a disadvantaged, overpopulated area with a history of drug dealing and violence. Local employment is limited and largely informal, leading to job insecurity and exploitation. Young people are easily drawn into crime and addiction, in which case they are likely to end up on the street, and there is a high rate of teenage pregnancy. Covid-19 is currently further eroding the local economy.
A generous donation has enabled the creation of a new dedicated workspace for textiles at the ACER Brasil community centre. This provided the opportunity to put into practice a plan to provide a vocational textile course to a group of teenagers from the local area that places emphasis on sustainable and ethical fashion. The course will include sessions on entrepreneurship and advice and help for setting up a microenterprise.
This initiative will provide a training to young people that will improve their lives, widen their horizons and provide them with an opportunity for meaningful employment. It will also raise awareness of the environmental and ethical problems arising from the fast fashion industry, and long-term will play a part in upgrading the local economy and contributing towards the transformation of a marginalized area.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
