Empowering communities
‘Trade’ can be a real and empowering alternative to ‘aid’. Giving people the tools to grow out of poverty themselves has a long lasting and positive effect as opposed to aid which can sometimes keep a community in a cycle of dependency.
In Denpasar, the capital city of Bali, there are many small slum communities that are tucked away and out of view. The people who live there are mostly from Karangasem, a region of East Bali which is particularly poor and vulnerable to drought. Many mothers who are escaping domestic violence bring their children to live here and begin a life on the streets.
Our team at Sacred Childhoods realised that in order to help the children we needed to offer some realistic solutions to the parents as well. The mothers would regularly take their children onto the streets to beg because they had no way of earning money to feed themselves and their children.
In 2010 we started The Sewing Project which was based in the same building as the Slum School. The mothers not only learn how to sew, they also attend classes to learn to read and write, do basic maths, and practical skills like keeping a sales and receipts ledger, ordering textiles, and making agreements with the local shops to sell their products.
The mothers, and even some fathers, are now creating a small but growing salary for themselves and their children. Meanwhile, their children attend the Slum School and get a basic education. So the future is looking bright for these families and hopefully over time they will earn enough money to leave the slums and move forward with their lives.
If you wish to support this project you can do so by buying something from our e-shop. Keep an eye out for the products which have been made by the parents from the Sewing Project!
