24 Mar Tailoring for a living in the slums of Kathmandu
In November 2016, the National Mission Commission of Nepal launched a livelihood development programme for women living in the slums of Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal.
The purpose of this programme was to equip women who lived in marginalised communities with skills that would enable them to eventually start a tailoring business for sustainable and dignified livelihood.
Rai was among five women who enrolled in the “Tailoring Training” programme. Married at the age of fourteen to an eighteen-year old, Rai lives in the slums by the Bagamati River.
In a family of seven people, only her father-in-law is able to physically go out to work and earn an income. Her husband had met with a major accident whilst working at a construction site. He had a serious fall from a building and broke his hands and legs. By God’s grace, he survived although after several months of treatment and physiotheraphy, he now barely walks and relies on a stick for support when moving around the house.
Rai shares her situation “I have to take care of him at every moment; even to the toilet and around the house.”
She expresses her desire to improve the family income “I want to learn tailoring and start a small shop to earn a living because there is no one else in my family who can do so besides my aging father-in-law.”
Through “Tailoring Training,” the National Mission Commission of Nepal hopes to raise funds to provide the likes of Rai a sewing machine to smoothen the process of starting their business.
Please pray for Rai:
- That she will come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of her life and that of her family’s.
- That the tailoring training will enable her to eventually start a sustainable tailoring business.
- That her husband will be able to recover substantially.
— Ram Prasad, the National Mission Commission of Nepal, Kathmandu.