Project Report
| Feb 26, 2009
Update on AIL Tailoring and Sewing Program
By Alison Hendry | Administrative Assistant
During 2008 the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) trained 2153 women in sewing and tailoring class in AIL Learning Centers. 95 – 100% of the women trained in the centers say that they use the skills learned in these classes to help support their families. Often, the women who begin coming to the Learning Centers to take sewing and tailoring courses end up also taking literacy courses.
This is the case with a female student who was recently promoted to the sixth grade. She says, “I am very happy, so much that I can’t explain, but you can see it on my face. Today, my eyes are familiar with reading and my hands familiar with sewing, all because of the AIL Office and their kind trainers. I and all of the center students always pray for Professor Sakena Yacoobi (the executive director of AIL) and all of her staff for giving us the opportunity to come out of our homes and learn many things from our kind teachers, it is a bright spot in our lives. Always, it has been my wish to be literate, work somewhere and do things to help my family and my people and thank God, now I can do it.”
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Aug 22, 2008
Stories to Share
By Alison Hendry | Administrative Assistant
One success story illustrating how the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) not only trains women to support themselves but also empowers them to be leaders in their communities comes from one of AIL’s sewing and tailoring training courses in Herat. Parima was a student in one of AIL’s WLCs in Herat Province. Since completing the course, she has established her own business sewing garments and is earning a good income. Because Parima’s village didn’t have a center, Parima began training women and girls in tailoring. She is now working in conjunction with AIL and when Parima’s students complete her course they will be allowed to take AIL’s final sewing exam. After successfully completing the exam, the students will be awarded with a certificate from AIL.
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Aug 7, 2008
Snapshot (2008) of the Tailoring Project
By Alison Hendry | Administrative Assistant
Classes in tailoring continue to be one of the most popular and economically beneficial classes offered in the Afghan Institute of Learning’s Women Learning Centers (WLC). In June 2008, there were 1,226 Afghan females in tailoring classes in 20 centers in Kabul and Herat, Afghanistan and in the WLCs in Peshawar, Pakistan. There are currently 48 classes being held, with 14 – 43 students in each class.
Following is a story from a 28 year old woman who graduated from one of the Afghan Institute of Learning’s (AIL) tailoring classes in Herat that shows the benefit of the tailoring classes as well as the benefit of the centers as a whole:
“When I was in Iran 2 years ago, I was concerned about what will happen to me when I return to my country. Would I be able to go in school or some educational center to be an educated person like Iranians? But when we came back to our country and moved to this village, after a short time, I found the AIL center and lots of women going and coming from this center. I felt that it is the best place for the improvement of women who want to learn some thing. I went there and enrolled in literacy, tailoring and holy Quran classes. I have attended these three classes in one center and was very happy because every day, I met at least 400 women from my community. And the quality of this center was very good because the teachers were updated by AIL through providing seminars and training. So the methods they taught were the best and students learnt very fast. Today after 2 years, I have completed the 5th grade of literacy, Holy Quran and the sewing course. I feel I am very lucky to have this opportunity to learn these all things and now I can work to support my family. I can read the magazine, newspaper and also I can help my children in their lessons and home work."
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