CAMBODIA Women Gain From Sewing And Embroidery Project In Small Parish

Posted: 28th June 2007

PHNOM PENH (UCAN) -- The sound of sewing and embroidering machines mixed with women's chatter and laughter is often heard in the compound of a small church in a Phnom Penh suburb.

Child Jesus Parish in Beoung Tom Poun has been running the project for about a year to teach poor women sewing and embroidery. One of them, Luy Chanty, a widow with two children, told UCA News, "I really want to learn embroidery because I can put this skill to use at home while taking care of my children."

As she trains, the 33-year-old Buddhist is selling the clothes and bags she produces at the market, making a profit of up to 5,000 riel (US$1.30) a day.

Chanty is confident that learning this skill will greatly increase her family income, especially after the Church finds new ways in the near future to market the products. Like the other eight women currently in the course, she gets US$2 a day for food and transportation as part of the project.

Father Mario Ghazzies, the pastor, told UCA News, "We began the embroidery course because not many women are so interested in sewing courses anymore."

The Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) priest said he began the project a year ago by contacting Cooperation for Prosperity, an NGO that works with poor women all over Cambodia. He sought help to find people who could embroider liturgical stoles, vestments used by priests, but that is when he learned the NGO offers sewing and embroidery training programs.

Father Ghazzies soon agreed with Cooperation for Prosperity that he would put machines in the church and run six-month sewing and embroidery courses for 18 months. "We selected women who had taken sewing courses before but did not have much opportunity to make a living," the Italian missioner explained.

When the women finish the course, the priest said, they can collaborate to sell their products together, or the parish would give the individuals a loan to open a small business from their homes. "Most prefer to work together in a group because they can help each other, and it's more fun," he added.

Father Ghazzies said there were originally more than the nine women now in the program. Some had to stop due to illness or family issues. He also said a similar six-month course available outside the parish would cost about US$600.

"Our purpose is to give poor women vocational skills so that they can help themselves," he stressed. He is so impressed by their progress that he helps them market the products locally, where they get very low prices. "So, we are looking to the European market in cooperation with some NGOs," he said, but people in Italy who have seen samples say Europeans want higher quality goods.

According to Father Ghazzies, the project's US$9,000 annual budget is funded by the PIME community and the Catholic Church in Italy.

Saren, 45, a program teacher, told UCA News, "We create our own styles, though we also get styles from some books and magazines."

In Sour, a 20-year-old student, told UCA News she prefers embroidery to sewing. She now gets 3,000-5,000 riel in the market for each piece she makes.

Khem Phanna, 25, says she has not just learned to embroider by machine and by hand, but she also has grown a lot in self-awareness during the course.

"I have not yet made any products for sale," Phanna told UCA News as she continued to hand-embroider words on clothes. "After finishing this course, I will buy an embroidery machine and start my own small business at home."

The parish began as a small community in 1993, under the guidance of Providence de Portieux nuns, and its 50 or so Catholics now live in the neighborhood of 3,000 people.

Article Source: UCAN