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AL-KUT, Iraq (April 13, 2008) - A women's sewing center
officially opened in Muafiqiyah village April 10, providing both
employment and training for female residents.
The center will serve as a means for local women to earn income
to support their families, said Sgt. Amanda E. Timmer, head of the
Women's Initiatives program for the Wasit Provincial Reconstruction
Team.
The center employs 11 women from the village, one for each
sewing machine. Eventually these women will take apprentices,
doubling the workforce, said Timmer.
"The plan is not only to employ women, but to train them,
provide them a skill," Timmer said.
Selection for the initial group was specifically aimed at single
mothers whose spouses had died and who had no other means to
provide for their families, said Timmer.
This is the first project in Muafiqiyah the PRT has undertaken,
said Timmer, and was used to establish a relationship with the
village.
The project resulted from collaboration between local leaders in
the village, the PRT and the Wasit Provincial Council.
The initial assessment took place in early March, after Hadi
al-Yasiri, a member of the council and a contractor the PRT had
worked with before, asked the PRT to visit Muafiqiyah, his
hometown.
The sewing center was nothing more than an empty building next
to the mayor's office, said Lt. Col. Robert Jones, PRT deputy team
leader. After the assessment, a complete refurbishment of the
center was conducted over the course of ten days by al-Yasiri.
Timmer said the sewing center will be overseen and run by Ahmad
Nouri Ali al-Yasiri, head of the Muafiqiyah local council. All the
materials currently at the center where provided by the council and
will be used by the women to create clothing, she said.
The clothing produced by the women will be sold locally and - if
there is a demand - at the al-Kut markets, said al-Yasiri. The
council will oversee sales, with part of the profits going to
maintain the center, fund operations and purchase materials.
The remaining income will be handed over to the women to support
their families. In this way, Timmer said, the center not only
supports the women, but allows them to contribute to the
community.
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