Sewing Her Way Out of Poverty

Nicholas Kristof is a man I much admire, which all started when I picked up the book Half the Sky (honestly, if you've never read this book, go out and get it. From your library. From a used book sale. Wherever. It's one you must read!)

I have been corresponding with a woman who has volunteered for the program in Jairpur that I will be there for and she talked about the many things we can teach the women there. About life, about English, about a trade (if we have it - such as sewing), computer skills or about entrepreneurship (which will be my focus).

This article basically talks about an antipoverty organization called Jamii Bora, which became Kenya’s largest microfinance organization and runs entrepreneurship training, a sobriety campaign to reduce alcoholism, and a housing program to help slum-dwellers move to the suburbs. Nicholas tells the story of Jane, a prostitute turned savvy businesswoman whose sewing business flourished, giving her profits to buy a small home in a safe suburb and to keep her children in school. Her eldest daughter, Caroline, became the first child in the family to graduate from high school and is now taking computer classes. Her middle child, Anthony is #1 in his class, hoping to go to College. And a third child, Cynthia will become head girl of her school next year.

As Kristof states,

There’s a tendency these days to give up on poverty, to dismiss it as a sad but inevitable feature of humanity, particularly at a time when we have deep economic problems of our own. But if a former prostitute in a Nairobi slum can build a dressmaking business, buy a home in the suburbs and produce over-achievers like Caroline, Anthony and Cynthia, then it’s worth remembering that sheer grit, and a helping hand, can sometimes blaze trails where none seem possible.

Inspiring. Read the NY times article here.