Vocational Training for 5,000 Women in Pakistan

The potential for Small & Medium Enterprise development in Pakistan is very high. A large portion of the population are under or unemployed and possess the desire and potential to easily acquire marketable skills to acquire substantial incomes if linked with more lucrative markets. One of the most notable skills that entrepreneurs possess is embellishment on a variety of fabrics, products, and shoes, but it is a skill that they struggle to turn into a profitable asset due to isolation, lack of market access, lack of access to inputs, and lack of market knowledge.

After successful completion of the Vocational Training pilot project in Kashmir, Marshall Direct Fund is pleased to announce that a successive training has been conducted by the excellent trainer, Ruby Dewan, in Multan (South Punjab-Pakistan). Without a training facility secured, Ruby conducted the training out of her own home and nine women have graduated and completed the eLife training curriculum learning Communication Skills, Time Management, Market Survey and Research, Production, Entrepreneurial  Competencies, Advertising and Promotion of Business, Costing, Pricing and Business Plan Development. The entrepreneurs are now actively engaged in creating the first product line for Peace of the Action, the for-profit entity associated with Marshall Direct Fund. Last month an office and training center in the region was secured and we are well on our way to reach our goal of reaching 1000 entrepreneurs within one year! Thank you to all of our supporters who have made the success of this program possible. 

MDF encourages your involvement and welcomes any ideas that would help us to attract wider support. The project that you are supporting provides a safe place for mothers and their families to learn and develop skills that help make the world a safer and more secure place for all. Please help us generate awareness – become a fan of our Facebook page, join us on Twitter, and share with your networks. If you would like to start a MDF Allies in Action group in your community there are various one-time or re-occurring ideas and activities that we would be pleased to share. You can reach us at info@marshalldirectfund.org or +01 (970) 963-3150. Learn more about our activities by visiting our website at www.marshalldirectfund.org

We are excited to share that the pilot group of over 200 women successfully graduated from the Vocational Training program early December. We received an overwhelmingly positive response from the participants. We were repeatedly informed that the training provided information and skills in areas of great need. Several women traveled over 2 hours one way and pooled their resources to secure transportation to make sure they could regularly attend. The eLife curriculum, developed by the Foundation for Social Change and implemented through Marshall Direct Fund and our partner IKI foundation, brought real world skills on business acumen for young women who seek to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. The curriculum was adjusted to meet the specific needs of the community. Women had time to work on and share business plans based on the individual or group enterprises they are seeking to start or further develop. They testified that feedback from their peers was very helpful.

We are looking forward to helping them with next steps and increasing the scope of the success of this project. You can learn more and see more photos on the award winning blog Peace of the Action which was written by the wonderful Pakistani trainer who facilitated the training – Ruby Dewan! Here you can learn about specific participants such as Nagina, who already had developed a successful sewing business but needed further guidance as to how to grow her enterprise. With the knowledge she gained in the program she has put new skills to the test and seen positive results. Marshall Direct Fund plans to expand our program to reach 1,000 women in 2013. Thank you to all of our supporters who have made our first success possible.Thank you as well to Safer World Fund and continuing to make matching funds available to enable donor dollars go farther!

If you are interested in meeting some of the women participating in this program and learning more about Marshall Direct Fund we are scheduling a group trip to Pakistan and Nepal in May 2013. Check out all the details here. 

MDF encourages your involvement and welcomes any ideas that would help us to attract wider support. The project that you are supporting provides a safe place for mothers and their families to learn and develop skills that help make the world a safer and more secure place for all. Please help us generate awareness – become a fan of our Facebook page, join us on Twitter, and share with your networks. If you would like to start a MDF Allies in Action group in your community there are various one-time or re-occurring ideas and activities that we would be pleased to share. You can reach us at info@marshalldirectfund.org or +01 (970) 963-3150. Learn more about our activities by visiting our website at www.marshalldirectfund.org

The vocational training commences next week! We had a last minute site change, but all is still a go. The women are ready and excited. The curriculum being utilized from Foundation for Social Change has been translated into Urdu and modified by our fantastic local trainer, Rubina, to take into consideration local culture and the needs of the women we will be working with Thanks to your support, we have the resources necessary to begin helping 200 women secure a 12 week course that will introduce business acumen and foster financial management skills. The women will be reporting on their progress weekly and we hope they will take photos and videos of their experience. We look forward to sharing this with you in the coming months. We are so lucky to have supporters like you supporting these activities and helping women to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.

We would also like to announce and extend an invitation to you to join us on a guided tour of Pakistan and Nepal May 1-11, 2013. The trip is intended to increase awareness and join others in reaching new heights. This trek is open to anyone who is interested in participating. Please visit the K4K site to learn more www.klimb4kashmir.org If you or anyone you know is interested in going please let us know!

From the bottom of our hearts, thank all of our donors and supporters. We encourage your involvement and welcomes any ideas that would enable us to attract wider support. The project that you are supporting provides a safe place for mothers and their families to learn and develop skills that help make the world a safer and more secure place for all. Please help us generate awareness – become a fan of our Facebook page, join us on Twitter, and share with your networks. If you would like to start a MDF Allies in Action group in your community there are various one-time or re-occurring ideas and activities that we would be pleased to share. You can reach us at info@marshalldirectfund.org or +01 (970) 963-3150. Learn more about our activities by visiting our website at www.marshalldirectfund.org. 

The young women participating in the vocational program are looking forward to their first day of training this September. Meanwhile, we have identified and hired a well qualified market linkage coordinator to ensure the success of the product (details to come!) We have also conducted further market research doing focus groups and conducting surveys, to get input from future buyers. Additionally, we are working with the wholesale provider to fine tune the raw products that the women will be embellishing. Once we launch the product we will be sure to share more details.

Thanks to your support, Marshall Direct Fund (MDF) received $25,015 in donations and an additional $12,248 from the Safer World Matching Fund Drive for a total of $37,262! There is still time to donate or encourage others to donate to this project with a 50% matching opportunity through the Safer World Foundation on the Global Giving website http://www.globalgiving.org/leaderboards/safer-world/. MDF is one of a handful of organizations that are being matched and there is still about $1,300 in matching funds available!

This September we are supporting an 18 day trek in Kashmir for those who would like to see this part of the world and get involved with MDF. All proceeds from this guided tour through the beautiful Northern Himalayas go straight to our vocational programs. More information on this once in a lifetime opportunity can be found by visiting the Klimb for Kashmir website: http://www.klimb4kashmir.org/ .

Marshall Direct Fund would sincerely like to thank all of our donors and supporters. MDF encourages your involvement and welcomes any ideas that would enable us to attract wider support. The project that you are supporting provides a safe place for mothers and their families to learn and develop skills that help make the world a safer and more secure place for all. Please help us generate awareness – become a fan of our Facebook page, join us on Twitter, and share with your networks. If you would like to start a MDF Allies in Action group in your community there are various one-time or re-occurring ideas and activities that we would be pleased to share. You can reach us at info@marshalldirectfund.org or +01 (970) 963-3150. Learn more about our activities by visiting our website at www.marshalldirectfund.org.  

Thanks to your support, Marshall Direct Fund is happy to announce that the Vocational Training program for the first 200 women will begin this September. After we implement the pilot program in partnership with Foundation for Social Change and train other trainers, our goal is to work with and train 1,000 deserving women in 2013.  Women participating in the vocational program will not only have an opportunity to double their existing income and gain business acumen and financial literacy, but there will be enough revenue generated to place a portion of the profits towards MDF activities to enable financial sustainability and long-term impact of the program for years to come. 

There is still time to donate or encourage others to donate to this project with a 50% matching opportunity through Safer World Foundation on the Global Giving website. MDF is one of a handful of organizations that are being matched and there is still $8,000 in funds available! We are also supporting an 18 day women’s trek in Kashmir for those who would like to get further involved. More information on this once in a lifetime opportunity can be found by visiting the Klimb for Kashmir website: http://www.klimb4kashmir.org/ .  

The World Bank identified a lack of marketable skills and vocational training as one of the three major barriers to Pakistan’s success in alleviating poverty. MDF is committed to the development of a program that teaches marketable skills that the population has identified that they want to learn. We have secured the necessary market linkages in both Pakistan and internationally to launch this program and look forward to sharing our progress with you. Thank you so much for being an active member of our community and helping to Pakistan to overcome these hurdles. Please contact us with any questions or concerns or to share ideas. Want to learn more or connect? Visit our website at www.marshalldirectfund.org or become our fan on facebook.