Learning to cut out garments is serious business for these Bangladesh
women.
Alberta- raised money fiv <* 3 > o / &¥
reaches Bangladesh class
Supplying knitting and sewing
machines to the Bangladesh Mahila
Samity, a fellow member of the
Associated Country Women of the
World, has also rewarded the sponsor,
the Alberta Women's Institutes.
Beryl Ballhorn, public relations
officer for the AWI said the project
has helped women in Bangladesh
acquire new skills, while AWI
members gain new friends and a
feeling of kinship with the Samity
members.
The project began following the
ACWW Hamburg meeting in 1980
on the suggestion of former president
Marie Plaizier, whose daughter
had been in Bangladesh's capital,
Dacca, and was aware of the
need for training.
When the AWI learned the Mahila
Samity needed knitting and
sewing machines to train women to
help support their families and gain
some independence, $ 4000 was collected.
Arrangements with the Canadian
International Development
Mahila Samity photos
Bangladesh women learn to use sewing and knitting machines provided by
the Alberta Women's Institutes to the Mahila Samity.
Agency, which is responsible for
administration of the project, were
handled by Federated Women's
Institutes of Canada. Through
CIDA's matching grant system,
AWI's $ 4000 swelled to $ 16,000.
Ballhorn said trainees are interviewed
and selected for admission.
Classes are held for six months
under trained instructors and Samity
supervisors. After six months
of training, three days a week, the
women are certified. Some are then
employed in garment factories
while others enter domestic projects
of their own. Their work is also sent
to the Mahila Samity sale centre.
There are six training shops in
operation, two in Dacca where 22
sewing machines are used, one in
the village of Manikid and two at
Joar Shahara. Thirteen knitting
machines are in the Dacca centre,
one at the remote interior corner
Shaskikar and one at Chandpur.
Ballhorn said that gives 240 women
the opportunity to receive training
annually.
The project is closely supervised
and now that progress reports have
been received, the final $ 3000 has
been sent by FWIC. It will be
followed by CIDA's final payment
to Mahila Samity covering administration
costs.
Although the project is over as
far as AWI is concerned, Ballhorn
said it is gratifying to know the
training opportunities will continue
in Bangladesh.
