Skill centre to empower women:
The vast majority of South Africa’s poor are women. Two-thirds of South Africa’s illiterates are female. Of the thousands of school age children not in school, the majority are girls. And today, HIV/AIDS is rapidly becoming a women’s disease. In several southern African countries, more than three-quarters of all young people living with HIV are women.
Millions of people eat two or three times a day, but a significant percentage of women eat only once. And now, many women are denying themselves even that one meal to ensure that their children are fed. These women are already suffering the effects of even more severe malnutrition, which inevitably will be their children’s fate as well.
Studies show that when women are supported and empowered, all of society benefits. Their families are healthier, more children go to school, agricultural productivity improves and incomes increase. In short communities become more resilient.
In South Africa, Fifty plus Centre seeks to end hunger and poverty by empowering women to lead lives of self reliance, meet their basic needs and build better futures for their children.
Fifty Plus centre has been assisting more than 789 families, single mothers with monthly food parcels over the last 5 years, our list of needy mothers just grew and grew each year, we then did a in depth research with each and every family on our list and found that more than half of these needy women are illiterate, they cannot read, write or speak proper English and cannot do a simple add or subtract sum.
Fifty Plus centre decided to start a skill centre to empower women to look after their families the skill centre and classes will have a curriculum as follows:
Ø 4-6 weeks of learning basic English read write and speak (For the Women who needs this class)
Ø 2-4 weeks of learning how to do sums by calculating out of their head and calculator (so that no one can cheat them out of the money they earn)
Ø 6-8 weeks basic computer classes – Excel, Ms Word, PowerPoint, Email and Internet ( learning formulas on excel, typing, data capturing, invoicing etc)
Ø 1 week of telephone manner and etiquette
Ø 2 weeks of Admin skills- Filling, opening and closing of files, how to book appointments, traveling arrangements etc
Ø 8-10 weeks of dressmaking,- how to follow a pattern, how to work a dressmaking machine etc.
Ø 4-6 weeks arts & crafts – beads, painting of ceramics, moulding ceramics.
Please note that not all the women will be attending all of these classes as some of them might work better with their hands and then will only be attending the English, math and craft classes, but they are more than welcome to attend the whole curriculum.
After these classes the women will be able to do the following:
1. Open a small arts and craft stall or find a job in this field
2. Make dresses, bedding, table cloths etc and sell it or find a job in this field
3. Find a job in a office doing admin, reception, telesales, call centre etc
At the moment we only have 5 students doing this curriculum as we only have the funds to assist 5 women in getting the necessary education they need.
To have a permanent skill centre a sustainability skill centre the cost will be as follows
We need approximately R175’000.
We also plan to employee these women ourselves as teachers for the skill centre in the arts and craft and dressmaking divisions, we will also then be buying the arts and craft from them that they make and sending it to our sponsors as gifts to say thank you for their donation.
Millions of people eat two or three times a day, but a significant percentage of women eat only once. And now, many women are denying themselves even that one meal to ensure that their children are fed. These women are already suffering the effects of even more severe malnutrition, which inevitably will be their children’s fate as well.
Studies show that when women are supported and empowered, all of society benefits. Their families are healthier, more children go to school, agricultural productivity improves and incomes increase. In short communities become more resilient.
In South Africa, Fifty plus Centre seeks to end hunger and poverty by empowering women to lead lives of self reliance, meet their basic needs and build better futures for their children.
Fifty Plus centre has been assisting more than 789 families, single mothers with monthly food parcels over the last 5 years, our list of needy mothers just grew and grew each year, we then did a in depth research with each and every family on our list and found that more than half of these needy women are illiterate, they cannot read, write or speak proper English and cannot do a simple add or subtract sum.
Fifty Plus centre decided to start a skill centre to empower women to look after their families the skill centre and classes will have a curriculum as follows:
Ø 4-6 weeks of learning basic English read write and speak (For the Women who needs this class)
Ø 2-4 weeks of learning how to do sums by calculating out of their head and calculator (so that no one can cheat them out of the money they earn)
Ø 6-8 weeks basic computer classes – Excel, Ms Word, PowerPoint, Email and Internet ( learning formulas on excel, typing, data capturing, invoicing etc)
Ø 1 week of telephone manner and etiquette
Ø 2 weeks of Admin skills- Filling, opening and closing of files, how to book appointments, traveling arrangements etc
Ø 8-10 weeks of dressmaking,- how to follow a pattern, how to work a dressmaking machine etc.
Ø 4-6 weeks arts & crafts – beads, painting of ceramics, moulding ceramics.
Please note that not all the women will be attending all of these classes as some of them might work better with their hands and then will only be attending the English, math and craft classes, but they are more than welcome to attend the whole curriculum.
After these classes the women will be able to do the following:
1. Open a small arts and craft stall or find a job in this field
2. Make dresses, bedding, table cloths etc and sell it or find a job in this field
3. Find a job in a office doing admin, reception, telesales, call centre etc
At the moment we only have 5 students doing this curriculum as we only have the funds to assist 5 women in getting the necessary education they need.
To have a permanent skill centre a sustainability skill centre the cost will be as follows
We need approximately R175’000.
We also plan to employee these women ourselves as teachers for the skill centre in the arts and craft and dressmaking divisions, we will also then be buying the arts and craft from them that they make and sending it to our sponsors as gifts to say thank you for their donation.