December 2006
A strategic, well-supervised project is helping needy women to support themselves and their families
Every day, in the rural town of Thondamuthur, India, forty-two women learn sewing and tailoring skills at the Lydia Tailoring School for Poor Women. Their new abilities enable them to help support themselves and their families. The six-months course, provided free of charge to them, is overseen by a Christian fashion designer and a tailoring instructor, who also counsel and pray for the Hindu and Muslim women. Because response to the training has been so enthusiastic and the results so positive, enrollment will increase significantly next year. But the building they rent is too small to accommodate the many additional students who hope to attend. So the school has made plans to build their own building, larger than the one they are using now. In addition to providing space for more students in the tailoring school, the new construction will provide space to offer typing and computer skills to empoverished girls.
The Best Way to Help
It is widely agreed that the best way to help impoverished people and avoid long-term dependency is to provide them with education and skills that empower them to support themselves and their families. That is why Charis International has helped support Jesus India Christian Schools, a wonderful initiative begun a few years ago by our friends, Madasamy and Swarna Thirumalai. This dedicated couple knows the needs of their people and have channeled significant funds and compassionate efforts into several effective training programs. The schools they have started have already provided an education for over 1,000 children.
So Little Can Do So Much!
Now we can help them with the new Lydia Training School for Poor Women. We have already provided $4,000 to purchase the land. And, to enable more women and girls to gain life sustaining and enriching skills, we are helping them raise the additional $8,000 to build the school. That’s all it takes! Your help will make an enormous difference!
Project Updates
Congo — Last year, Charis raised $5,000 to help the Evangelical Community of Aru, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to build a training center for deaf and dumb widows and orphans. The foundation has been laid and the building will soon be completed. We’re so thankful for what a modest contribution will do.
Tajikistan — We were also able to provide $6,500 to fund a program enabling 48 young men and women in the village of Havaskor, Tajikistan, to receive training in carpentry, cooking and sewing. The skills they are learning will provide opportunities to find employment and to support themselves and their families.
