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Key people: Azam Gill and Barbara
The sales of clothing and patterns has recently commenced with three people travelling around the community selling them (see PAK01e). They make 200–400 PKRs (US$2–4) per sale. They are in the process of developing sales networks so the business can grow as products increase.
They are also in the process of erecting a building which will become a permanent sewing centre and a place to sell their wares. This should be completed in the near future and will provide an opportunity to display and market their products.
Azam and Barbara visit every 4–6 weeks to oversee the development of the work. This more frequent visitation has meant an upsurge of interest in the work and much better outcomes in the programmes.
I visited for a few days in October and visited all the sites of the four sewing programmes in addition to a couple of potential villages.
This is where the programme began and where the base is established. This is also where the shop is being constructed. This programme sees about 15 women trained each year and now some have jobs making garments for sale when the shop opens. Good sewers from other villages will also be contracted to make garments as the retail sales increase. The women here are very excited about what is happening and to be able to earn an income in their village with their people is a huge boost for them.
While visiting, those who had completed the course were presented with certificates. A new class with 12 students began in September.
Village #152 GB, BhaindianThere were 15 students in the last course and they were presented with certificates. They were very excited! This is a great little place for a project. The key family are passionate about it and love the work. The trainer, Alia, is a woman whose husband left her with two children. She is very good at training.
There is also an adult literacy class in the village and this makes the house a place of gathering and encouragement for many people.
Shekila is the trainer and she has five children. While there we gave out eight certificates to women who had completed their training. There were others in the course but they have got married and the parents didn’t want the certificates. Now that they are married they don’t really care about their daughters any more, they now belong to the other family and are out of their house!
This is a very poor village. There has been a course operating here for some time in the home of a Christian family. The day we visited there was a Christian wedding in the village so those who had completed their course were not available. However, about 12 women turned up to beg for another course. They were all Muslim women and very keen.
The women who came were as poor as I’ve met. Of the ones who came with children, only one had been to school and she was the only one who could read anything. This does give an opportunity to engage with these people and Azam and Barbara will decide if it can be done again.
The sewing programmes are very popular and there are constant requests from individuals and whole villages to participate. We visited one village where a Muslim woman who is known by Azam requested, no stronger than that, demanded that he start a programme in her home for 12 young people. I'm not sure if that will go ahead.
Five young women (pictured right) from Shahzada village have got permanent positions in factories in Faisalabad, 45 minutes away. They stay in a hostel there during the week and come back on the weekends. They are earning about US$165 per month plus some overtime and are delighted to be able to do this and contribute to the family income.
Back towards Islamabad from Faisalabad we visited Village #132 RB, Sahiwala. It is a village with quite a large Christian community and while there I met with the church members and spoke to them. They are very keen to have a sewing programme and adult literacy course in their village. Azam is pretty keen to set this one up as an encouragement to the village. Most of the Christians are brick makers and are very poor. They get paid US$8 for every 1,000 bricks they make.
Plans for the FutureThese programmes continue to help people to be encouraged and strengthened and to come out of poverty. I think they are very useful.
Azam does need to think more strategically about which ones to say yes to. In 2018 he wants to start a project in another village and he will have to make a hard decision about which one to stop.
The mindsets that trap women in very difficult circumstances.
1) That there is an ongoing interest in the sewing and that the impact of these programmes will continue to see women and their families strengthened and encouraged.
2) That Christian people will become stronger in their faith despite the pressures they face.
3) That Azam and Barbara will continue to be able to focus on leading this.
4) That the Muslim participants will get a better understanding of the Christian faith from being in the programmes.
These projects are very helpful for the Christian families. The women are excited about the training and the help. Those who now have permanent jobs are very excited and happy as are their families.
However, Azam struggles to think strategically and cannot easily say no to people. I am talking to him about that.