Originally posted by Bethany on the Global Hope Network International website
Women are filled with joy learning a new way to bring their family income
A small pocket of Cairo’s poorest, Ezbit el Amir is a community stuck in a cycle of poverty. Low literacy rates and few jobs, villagers were without hope before GHNI began a Transformational Community Development (TCD) program.
In our discussions with the community about what they thought were the most immediate needs, income generation was among the top. A group of eleven women showed interest in learning to sew, so TCD workers began a sewing machine loan and training program.
The women were taught how to maintain the sewing machines and then began sewing lessons. Each woman was offered a sewing machine “loan”. In taking a machine, each woman will begin making payments from the income generated from mending and selling garments.
A GHNI-Egypt leader remarked, “We could see the joy on every woman because sewing machines will help each woman to increase her income, which helps her family in living.”
GHNI will continue to teach the women advanced skills and help them maintain the machines. Our TCD workers will do this by visiting her home, which also allows us to spend time with her family. It is during these visits when we can see the woman’s progress and collect her monthly payment. Our GHNI leader also says, “This helps them know that we care about them and love them, so they will accept us and we can speak with them about other areas of hope.”
