Slum girls

Education is an important tool for fighting poverty.

Dino Halder is teaching 15 young girls and women the fine art of sewing and embroidery with the help of JW Support.

A further 50 to 60 young girls from the slums are going to school and receive a proper meal every day.

Background for women

Female emancipation is still a foreign concept in Bangladesh. Most women are expected to cook, bear children and just shut up. This has been the prevalent attitude for generations, and still no great urgency is apparent in bringing about changes.

Women are seen as the family caretakers and apart from that are only incidentally allowed to earn some surplus income elsewhere;
Polygamy (and divorce) are strictly in the male domain.
Some men have more than one wife with children, but lack the financial means to provide even for just one family.

Parents are inclined to marry their daughters off to the first suitor, since this means there is one less mouth to feed. This practice means however that single women with children are an all too common occurrence.
Because the erstwhile husband soon proved to be disappointed with his bride, these single mothers are expected to provide for themselves and their children.

The sewing & embroidery project

Dino Halder has taken an interest in the fate of these women and now teaches them sewing and embroidery.
As you can see on the photo gallery pages, the most beautiful handcrafted items are being manufactured in Bangladesh. From bedclothes and tablecloths to gift items, there is a lot of choice !

These handicrafts take a lot of time and practice to learn. The girls need careful guidance on a daily basis, and it often takes months before the quality of their work is up to the standards that are set for selling their products.
JW Support is constantly looking for sponsors to keep this ongoing project alive for the foreseeable future.

Elementary education for the young girls

The women often bring their children or younger sisters to be taught by Dino, and he now employs two teachers for their elementary education.
The most important subjects during the first couple of years are arithmetic, language, hygiene and social skills.

The elementary school started in January 2008, and will expand the number of children and subjects as soon as sufficient funds are secured.

The children are also provided with a proper meal. More often than not, their families cannot be relied upon to take care of this.

You can support these projects by making a financial donation to :

BIC: ABNANL2A
IBAN: NL63ABNA0980473098.
Name: JW Support - Zoetermeer - The Netherlands