Our partner organization is working with women living in remote, rural communities in the mountainous regions of northern Pakistan. Their Women’s Empowerment Project (WEP), is working to empower women through a skillset that will help raise their family earning potential, raise their social status and equip them with skills that will benefit themselves, their families and their communities.
Taj Begum, a trainee at a rural women’s vocational training center says:
“I am Taj and I have been here for the last nine months. I am a lady who never had a chance to get skill-based training in my whole life. I work at home and take care of two cows and feeding four children. This has been my work for many years. My husband is a cook, and he has lived in the south of Pakistan for the last 20 years.
I am the one who cares about everything here at home in our village. My life has been very miserable, and I often get sick because of the hard work. I never went to school. Going to school was one of my dreams but during our time, girls’ education was prohibited, and our parents never sent us to school. We had many sanctions, and we were not allowed to talk to the men in my village. Now times have changed, and my husband didn’t stop me from joining this center.
The best thing I have learnt from this center is about stitching and I have been very encouraged by the teacher to learn stitching properly. I am working hard and not missing the classes. Now I am trained enough to do different types of stitching and I have already started earning. I never had a chance to earn a single rupee but today I earn and spend the money to fulfill the needs of my kids. I will never forget this favor of this training. My whole family is happy today with my training and I am already making a difference in my community.”
