Job Skills for Young People in Niger

The 70 tailoring, leatherworking, and weaving students at DIMA’s main training center are in the final months of their training program. As you can see from the photos in this report, they have accomplished a great deal in their time at DIMA. They will graduate in June 2024.

In December 2023, DIMA staff visited 10 of the women who had participated in a 9 month training program in tailoring that DIMA held for 30 women at the Centre National de Referenes des Fisticules Obstetricals. They reported that 5 women in the program had returned to their villages and were earning money from their sewing. Several of these women are now the only tailors in their villages.

Although the 10 women DIMA met with were still at the clinic, they, too, were busy filling orders for garments. At the time of DIMA’s visit, the group was working on a large order for a wedding party. We only had resources to train 30 women at the clinic, but when the training finished, we left intact the classroom that we had furnished. We were delighted to learn that the women we had trained are now training other women at the clinic.

The 10 women we talked to are from the town of Diffa near the border with Nigeria. We have already been able to give each one a sewing machine with the assistance of Friends of Niger and the Jane Hull Memorial Fund. They asked DIMA to give them some thread and fabric so that they can start businesses when they return home. We will use funds donated through GlobalGiving to help them obtain the sewing supplies.

Also in December 2023, we completed an extensive renovation of a workshop that is sponsored by the Association Nigerienne des Handicaps Locomoteurs (ANHL) for leatherworkers who are polio survivors. The workshop had been completely open in the front. As part of the renovation, a wall was added to completely enclose the structure so that equipment and materials could be secured and the artisans could continue working during dust storms.

The back wall of the workshop faces a busy street. A door was put in the back wall and a shed was built just outside. The leatherworkers plan to start a store in the shed to attract business from the many people passing by. In January 2024, training began with the 50 leatherworkers (38 women) at the association. The goal is to improve the quality of their work in order to allow them to increase their incomes.

As we track the impact of our projects, it is clear that our work changes peoples’ lives. As of December 2023, we have worked with nearly 250 people. We thank you for joining us in making all this possible.