Polish Aid increases female entrepreneurship in Tanzania
31.10.2022
Several dozen girls from the village of Mtae in Tanzania took part in this year's "Sisters' Workshop" project, gaining professional skills in the field of tailoring. Its implementation was possible thanks to the Polish Aid funds as part of a small grant awarded by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Dar es Salaam to a local partner - A.D. View Management Ltd.
The vocational training course in the field of modern tailoring, which also includes the basics of accounting, product marketing and distribution, knowledge on functioning and operation of social media and human resources management, will allow, in particular those girls who – for various reasons – end their education early, to take up paid work after leaving school. This is important especially because in Tanzania most children finish their education at the age of 13-14, without having any profession or any ability to earn their own living. In the longer term, one of the effects is stagnation in economic development, as well as it results in that children tend to repeat some traditional social forms not allowing women for independence.
The “Sisters' Workshop” opens up new self-employment opportunities for the inhabitants of the Usambara mountains region in the north of the country by preparing girls to run their own small-scale business. With the termination of the workshop, participants will be able to apply for micro-credits from A.D. Views Management running the project to finance their own business (purchase tools and materials, register their business within the local authorities, purchase land, etc.). In addition, the participants of the project had a chance to improve their knowledge of the English language. For the purpose of the project foot sewing machines (non-electric) have been purchased, the use of which reduces the energy demand. The machines will be reused to implement other similar projects.
Operating since 2020 with the support of small grants from the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Dar es Salaam, afterschool facility for children named the Sisters' Land, located in the Usambara mountains of Tanzania, provides assistance and additional education to girls and boys who are motivated and eager to learn, but do not enjoy the appropriate self-education conditions or resources.
As part of project monitoring, a representative of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Dar es Salaam, Consul of the Republic of Poland Piotr Kruze, met with the participants of the tailoring workshops.
