Tailoring: A Small Business Skill for Afghan Women

Tailoring and sewing skills are a lifeline for women giving them the opportunity to earn some money and contribute to the family income.  In June, Herat centers had 1,207 sewing students, and 132 embroidery students. There were 263 beautician students, which is another income-generating skill with which women can set up home businesses. In the same month, Kabul centers had 312 sewing students and 150 handicraft students.

AIL works to provide excellent equipment for the sewing classes, making repairs to machines as needed and if necessary replacing them. We run a specific microproject for this purpose.

"My name is Farzana. I am 35 years old. I have 4 children. Due to country situation and internal war unfortunate my husband died and after that we suffered so many economic and social problems. I could not provide the basic need of food for my children. One day a neighbor said that there is a learning center which is free of charge and teaches sewing.  I joined the class and amazingly I learned sewing after three months, now I am able to sew clothes for my family and for others. I opened a sewing shop and through this I can earn money and help my family. "

Your support makes all the difference to women’s lives in Afghanistan! Thank you.

Tailoring and sewing skills are a lifeline for women giving them the opportunity to earn some money and contribute to the family income.  Most of AIL’s Learning Centers offer sewing including our newly opened center at Zamanian in the Herat area. This center is focused on 5 areas: Languages, Sciences, Computing, Arts and Skills such as sewing. This shows that centers cater to a wide range of student needs from academic to income-generating skills and basic education such as reading and writing.

Mastering sewing skills gives women confidence in their abilities, purpose, respect within the family and community and raises their self-esteem.

Here is Hafiza’s story, “I live near Kabul. When I first came to the center I knew nothing about sewing. I was not sure I could learn how to sew. The teacher and my family encouraged me and I worked hard at it. Now I am able to sew any kind of clothing and I am also able to teach other women how to this craft. I have my own tailoring shop in my community. I sew clothes, teach women and earn money from this for the family.” 

The 2021 Sakena Fund annual report is attached and we hope you find it interesting. 

Your support makes all the difference to women’s lives in Afghanistan! Thank you.

• Annual_Report_2021_compressed.pdf (PDF)