Zonta USA Advocacy
Under the Future We Want (FWW) Project, with every US$466, one woman can benefit from a training program, which combines entrepreneurship and vocational skills development and psychosocial support for up to three months. Below, read how two women who received support through the joint initiative of Zonta International, UN Women and the International Organization for Migration took the skills they acquired to find economic independence and new opportunities for themselves and their families.
Basanti Tamang is a 30-year-old returnee woman migrant worker who worked in Lebanon for four and a half years as a housemaid.
She participated in the three-month tailoring training under the FWW Project.
During the course of her training, there were times when Basanti thought she would not be able to reach the level of other participants since she did not have even the basic level of education. However, Basanti said the continuous support and motivation provided by the trainers and the counselors helped her to build confidence and believe in her abilities.
“What I felt was, if I could work hard in a place thousands of miles away, where I did not even know the language, away from family, then why should I be afraid to work in the place where I was born and also have the full support of my family?” thought Basanti. “This motivated me to complete my training.”
Upon successful completion of the training, Basanti decided to start her own business. She invested 70,000.00 Nepali Rupees (US$674) with the support of her husband and started a tailoring shop.
Basanti further explained, “I did not know anything about tailoring before. This is the first time that I operated a machine. I used to be afraid even to talk to strangers, but now, I feel confident. I believe that I can earn a living through my tailoring business. My husband is also very supportive and helps me with calculating the cost of raw materials and setting the price of my products. I would like to thank all of those who have provided the training to returnee women migrant workers like me.”
Read the full issue from the June 2018 Zontian Magazine https://issuu.com/zontainternational/docs/the_zontian_may_2018/1?ff=true&e=2259762/61074085 (you can download a PDF readable file from there)
