By Sian Morris | Program Coordinator
GVI sewing classes, sponsored by the GVI Trust are a roaring success as the program begins to uncover promising entrepreneurs who are passionate about starting up their own business. Our sustainable method of teaching allows the women to teach one another, this results in them not just gaining the knowledge of how to sew but also how to teach, mentor and co-ordinate a class. As a result, a new social group has been created who are taking it upon themselves to use the sewing machines provided by the GVI Trust to not only better their financial position but to strengthen their relationships with members of the community and hopefully form business partnerships together in the future.
In February 2018, we started our new sewing course as part of our women's empowerment project here in Gordons Bay as a direct result of feedback received from women in 2017. The Women’s Empowerment program currently have 3 sewing machines which were purchased following a fundraising initiative back in December 2017. The run, row and ride the GVI Trust fundraising event raised over R19,000 for our projects by volunteers covering a total distance of 127km in their local gym.
The program first started off by GVI selecting three women from the local community who were passionate about improving their sewing skills. Over the course of 6 weeks, they completed a course made my GVI volunteers which covered basic sewing techniques, to making sample pieces to eventually designing and creating a product on their own. The women then go on to become teachers for the next group of sewing students. This has so far been a great success and the ladies have been incredibly creative making items such bags, clothes and scarves from beautiful local fabric.
Whilst the GVI Trust support the lessons through the use of the sewing machines, thread and practice material, the course is entirely run by the women in the community and it has become a self-sufficient project of women empowering and teaching one another.
The women can come and use the donated machines daily and it has been heart-warming to see lots of new friendships and support networks formed from ladies learning to sew together. Many of the ladies who have successfully completed the course continue to come in and support new students in their free time.
One of our first sewing students who got to use the machines which was funded by our donors was a lady named Cacilda who had previously never sewn before starting the course. After completing the course, she has been coming in regularly to practice on the machines and has begun making clothes and bags for friends and families, as well as decorations for her local church. Cacilda has recently begun working on a business idea to make materials that can be hired for events, such as table cloths, chair covers and decorations. Her hard work has paid off and we are incredibly proud to say that she has now made her first sale! Cacilda regularly helps the new students in her spare time and can often be heard inspiring and encouraging the women. She is an inspiring role model to the women she supports and through learning a skill and putting in hard work, she is starting to make her business a reality.
We have been overwhelmed with the number of women who have wanted to join the sewing course which is a fantastic testament to the women who have made it such a success. Going forward we are implementing business workshops to support more women in how to turn their new skill into a business and we are hoping that lots more women will be following in Cascilda's path.
In the past three months, the GVI Trust donated machines provided a great foundation for GVI to be able to start its sewing lessons on a small scale. This was to ensure that the project remained manageable. Moving forward into 2018, the GVI Trust will look more into the support of committed women who has shown initiative and a desire to start businesses. The ideal is to financially be able to provide female start-up entrepreneurs with the start-up capital.
Thank you for all of those who donated and contributed to Cascilda’s vision. We hope to continue to support women just like Cascilda!
With Love,
GVI CT Womans Empowerment
By Liesbeth van der Vossen | Program Leader
By Linda Zsindely | Long-term Intern
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