Vocational training for underprivileged women

The association “Compter sur demain” aimed to enable more underprivileged young women from the capital Douala to become financially independent, by expanding the professional sewing school run by the local association Hand in Hand. The project planned to increase the availability of vocational training courses for young women, many of whom were excluded from the professional world. It also aimed to support the young women who wished to start their own business, and to extend the scope of teaching to basic education (e.g. literacy and arithmetic), health and hygiene, optimising their chances of success.

The sewing school in Douala was entirely reconstructed instead of adding a new floor as originally planned. The new, two-storey, 346m² building was completed and inaugurated in December 2014. Electric sewing machines and in-service training was provided for the teachers in order to improve the quality of training. Basic education classes were successfully integrated into the vocational training course, as was education in hygiene and sanitation. New internal rules and organisational procedures were implemented and made the school more efficient. Girls in their third and final year of the training course were offered apprenticeships within the school’s workshop, manufacturing work clothes/overalls, preparing them for working life. Upon receiving their diplomas, the girls were each given a sewing machine as an endowment, enabling them to set up their own small businesses.

The French association Compter sur demain supports projects designed for girls, recognising that education is key to development. In this project, Compter sur demain is working together with the local association Hand in Hand, created in 1988 to help orphans and children in need in Douala and its surrounding area. The training centre is in the same grounds as the orphanage run by Hand in Hand.