Project Update: In early 2001, WJFB established a project in Jakarta, Indonesia designed to provide stable and fair employment to poor women. The project involved providing training to mothers, single mothers and young girls, teaching them to sew and providing them with information about entrepreneurship. After training, thirteen women came together to form Themis Clothing, an organization that is funded through WJFB in the form of a micro-credit loan. Themis Clothing originally manufactured and marketed clothing through a website associated with WJFB (http://www.wjfb.org/themis), and branched out to target the local retail market. Through continuous, hard work, the women of Themis have created a name for themselves in the local markets and bazaars, all the while improving their sewing expertise and increasing their sales. Themis has provided a safe working environment for women, providing the flexibility and security that is so important for women who are also raising children and running households. Recently Themis Clothing expanded their market even further. The increased skills of the women involved in Themis allowed them to move into the market of custom made clothing. In this capacity, Themis has established contacts with a French retailer and is in the process of establishing other international marketing ties. The retailer they currently produce for has an international audience, and makes the clothes available both online and through stores. Both retailers and consumers have been impressed by the quality of Themis Clothing and the importance of the working cooperative, providing a much-needed source of income to poor women. Catherine Aladag, who owns one store carrying Themis Clothing, praises the high quality of work and admires the Themis women she works with, who are efficient, nice and always striving to do their best. In the future Themis Clothing plans to continue to expand, as their increased demand from the international community allows for more women to train under the program and join Themis. In the long run, this cooperative will train and employ increasing numbers of women, providing them with a safe working environment, a secure source of income, and a flexible schedule. In turn, this allows women to continue to support their children and reduces the poverty of both their families and communities. Through this program the women of Jakarta are able to make a positive and sustainable difference for their own families and for the community. Micro-credit projects have proven to be an effective tool in freeing women from the poverty cycle. The role of micro-credit in an impoverished country contributes to the positive social and economic development of that country. Micro-credit extends very small loans and other financial services to poor families for self-employment projects, which will generate income and allow them to improve their living conditions.
There are many poor families living in Bukit Duri areas, east of Jakarta. Some of them are in low-income labour positions and many of them are unemployed. They do not have the access to clean water, sanitation and health. They are too poor to have the money to buy clean water for drinking. WJFB conducted a survey in the areas, which found that many women have the desire to learn new skills to improve their economic condition and provide support for their families. First, the WJFB decided to finance a Sewing Skills Training Program for 16 poor women at a registered sewing school in Jakarta in March 2001. The training was divided into two stages – basic skills training and expert skills training. The funds provided are for tuition fees, transportation fees, stationary, sewing kits as well as some fabric for sewing practice. After the basic sewing skills training, 13 people continued to the expert skills training course. In eight months, they learned in- depth sewing skills, which enabled them to start their own sewing business.
The WJFB-Indonesia branch is continually providing supervision and guidance to the business. Through this micro-credit project, poor women will learn how to run their own business and manage and provide for their families. This project not only helps women increase their income, but also creates job opportunities for them. Because of the skills these women learned, some of them were offered jobs with garment production companies. The WJFB believes in helping the poor by creating sustainable economic activity that allows them to become self-reliant. Micro-Credit financing provides them with a hand up, not a hand out, and that is the only way to create sustainable development. For this project, WJFB provided funds for sewing-skills training in the amount of $2,600. Then WJFB has provided a micro-credit loan to the Dress Making Business in the amount of $27,000 for the period from October 2001 until December 2002. The loan will be repaid within five years. In 2002, the
sewing cooperative has continued to expand and is becoming increasingly
sustainable. Clothing produced by the
cooperative is sold at various locations, including bazaars, clothing
outlets, and retail stores. In addition, the cooperative is also
hoping to attract international buyers. Between 75 - 80% of the
clothing items produced have sold. Funds from these sales have been
used to pay weekly allowances to the staff, buy additional fabric and sewing accessories,
and to repair machines. As such, the cooperative is becoming
increasingly self-reliant. |
|||||
|
(C) World Job and Food
Bank. |
