As part of our efforts to improve the financial stability of our students’ families, ISF has set up a sewing project. The course lasts for one and a half years, during which time parents learn how to sew as well as make and design clothes and other items. Since the programme’s start, 26 family members have joined. Twenty-three of them have found work in garment factories and three have set up small businesses as tailors in their communities.

Most of our former trainees used to work as scavengers earning less than $2 a day. They had no guarantee of steady working hours and their income fluctuated. Thanks to their newly developed sewing skills, they are now able to earn between $120 and $200 a month, which allows them to make significant contributions to their families’ income.

At the end of April 2017, six students’ mothers, who joined our sewing class in 2015, successfully completed the course and graduated. Our social workers and employment programme officers are now advising them on career opportunities and will support them in finding stable employment. In the meantime, they are able to sell their products at their local markets and are happy to be earning an extra income to support their families. We have also set up a small shop at ISF Chbar Ampov School, where the children and parents in our vocational training programmes can sell their sewing and other handmade products to ISF visitors and supporters.