When the women in Laguna making decorative items out of scrap paper strips received an order for 1000 pieces of their handicraft from a shop in San Pablo City a couple of months ago, it was seen as a huge step forward for them. They have had another boost with the recent festive season. A gift shop in Divisoria Manila, a market district in Manila, placed an order for 20,000 pieces.
To meet this order a Goducate Literacy Center was turned into a temporary stockroom and workshop for a week, during which classes for the children were held in the open. The women who worked at the center were victims of Typhoon Hagabat, whom Goducate has been helping.
Women from the local community who had been taught earlier how to make these decorative items worked from home. When I saw the little daughter of one of these women come to the center to collect material for her mother, it occurred to me that this project is also teaching little children how to help their parents in a simple way.
A new project that has been started is a tailoring project. A Goducate volunteer who used to be a dressmaker was asked by a ready-to-wear store to supply blouses for a school uniform. She decided to take this opportunity to give other women in the community a chance to earn a living and has started to teach some women how to sew. The project is hampered by the limited number and type of sewing machines they have. Thus only three women, one of them an experienced dressmaker, are sewing the blouses, and they can undertake to deliver only 86 pieces a week.
Hi,
I am searching for this livelihood program in Laguna that recycles junk food packs & sachets to convert in to high quality bags. Does your community engage in this kind of project or do you know of other communities that are involved in this activity. I read it somewhere but i was not able to get the full details except that this kind of activity is being don in Laguna. I would jighly appreciate any info that you might be able to provide thank you…