Where and why?
Sewing workshop project for women in the Monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Great martyr Abi Mercurius, km 48, Cairo-Ismailia Desert Road under the patronage of Anba Daniel, Abbot of the Monastery on the Red Sea and under the supervision of Abuna Antonius El-Antony.
Aim of the project is to help underprivileged women of all ages from the surrounding villages of the monastery, by enabling them to receive a training in sewing and tailoring. By selling their products the women are able to earn their own living and thus achieve financial independence.
Project Materials
St. Antonius Foundation sent two donations in Dec. 2019 and Aug. 2020 in the amount of 4.500 EUR to start the first phase. Thanks to these donations, Abouna Antonius bought the required materials listed below:
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Five Singer sewing machines
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One Singer professional overlock (4 threads)
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One Singer professional overlock (5 threads)
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One Juki HZL sewing machine
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One steam ironing system
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Professional industrial electric scissors round knife
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One tailor's table
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Two finishing tables
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Two storage racks for materials and finished products
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One storage rack for rolls of fabric
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One roll of fabric for educational use
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Thread boxes, pens and papers
First Training Phase
The monastery trained 40 women during the sewing workshop. Due to Corona precautionary measures, the training only took place twice a week in the monastery. The 40 women were divided into four groups of 10 each. The training began in September 2020 and ran until mid-December 2020. After completing the training, each woman received 100 Egyptian pounds (EP) as a final payment.
The training is now complete, but further donations are required for new sewing machines.
In the second phase we target 100 additional women of all ages.
