Tailoring Courses for single women, members of ethnic minorities and people with disabilities

A new pilot project is being run by SODI and the long-standing partner “Vietnamese Women’s Union” in the province Nghe An. The aim is to empower disabled and non-disabled women by teaching them jointly in tailoring courses.

Help fort he poorest regions in Vietnam

Nghe An is one of the poorest regions in Vietnam, with a rural poverty line of 8 Euro per month. Particularly vulnerable groups are single mothers, ethnic minorities which live in the less developed mountainous areas, and the disabled. All of them have smaller chances to have access to education, training and employment and are therefore seen as burdens to the family. The project targets women of these three vulnerable groups. They receive a 5-month training in tailoring, a sewing machine and help to find employment or open their own shop with a micro credit. Thus SODI builds on good experience with a similar project in the region with the same partner.

Micro Credits for independence

For interested women to open their own tailoring workshop, financial assistance is given out of a fund which was established through the former women’s project in Nghe An. Paid back loans now allow more micro credits to be given to other women. After receiving training in sustainable budgeting and assessing each woman’s business ides, they are eligible for a loan.

Integration is the key

The project idea of teaching disabled and non-disabled women together, is new and therefore limited to 20 participants so far. 10 are single mothers, 10 disabled and three of them belong to the ethnic minority Thai. All come from poor family backgrounds. Thus the project combines improving access to education for disadvantaged groups, integration of the disabled, and women’s empowerment. All groups get to know each other’s problems and potentials.