Why sewing classes? Why are we spending so much time and energy to keep Make Welcome Refugee Sewing School going? The answer is much bigger then just learning some sewing skills and earning a sewing machine.
COMMUNITY MATTERS
Ecclesiastes 4:1 “Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them!”
Time and time again, resettled refugees have made the same request – American friends that will walk with them through the struggles and challenges of making a new life there. Loneliness and feeling unwelcome are some of the top problems dealt with by new refugees. As one refugee told me, “Our caseworker can only help us in his office. Where are the friends that will come sit with us in our house? That will have time to answer all our questions? That will help us figure out how to live life here?”
Meeting this need for friendship is at the very heart of Make Welcome Refugee Sewing School. We’ve designed our program so that we will be a place where women find that longed for help and community
BUT WHY SEWING?
Refugee women are talented, tenacious, and brave. But when thrust into a new culture with a new language and new social norms, those talents often get obscured. Also, years spent in the “waiting room” of refugee camps often precludes talent development and strengthening. That’s where we (and other vocational training programs come in).
“Often unprepared for the new work environment, many refugee women lack sufficient language skills, technological experience, or cultural competence to adequately support a household or even themselves. Past experiences of trauma may exacerbate the difficulties of transition.” (Talent Development of Refugee Women, by Tuliao, Najjar, and Torraco)
Refugee women have the talent and the capacity. They just need opportunity to identify it and develop it after years of living in survival mode. Our sewing classes focus on two areas: first, developing their human capital by investing in their knowledge base and expanding their creativity through vocational sewing; and second, providing work experience that enables them to grow in soft skills, such as communicating in English, social networking, arriving on time, etc.
Sewing provides a unique way to meet the needs for community, trauma healing and vocational skills:
- Sewing class by its very nature builds community. The pressure is low and the enjoyment factor is high as women have opportunity to create, to help each other learn more, and to have natural conversations as part of the time together. We also work to intentionally create community through English conversation circles, special events and providing mentors to support refugee women.
- Sewing has been shown to provide healing and peace. As the Ladders Blog points out, “…crafting can release serotonin and dopamine – chemicals in your brain that relax you and make you happier. The more repetitive your craft is the better! A part of what is hypothesized to cause this chemical release is getting lost in the repetitive movements of a craft. This means that crafts such as knitting or sewing are more likely to see these results.” Other studies have shown how various types of crafting groups are a “safe place” for refugee women to decompress, talk about mental health issues, and find hope.
“Community collaborations that create healthy social and physical environments through access to resources, economic opportunities, and social support promote a holistic approach to health and can improve quality of life for this vulnerable population.”
- Here at Make Welcome, we have regular requests for hiring seamstresses! The Carolinas region was originally a key geographic area for textiles production and sewn goods manufacturing, and there is a definite resurgence of this. Learning vocational sewing skills provides an opportunity for women to get a job closer to home or to even start their own businesses. Through the sewing training, there are also many opportunities for modeling the skills needed to thrive in an American workplace.
As we get ready to launch a new year of sewing classes, you can get involved too! Support the sewing program financially through our Kindful giving portal. You can also volunteer to help in so many different ways from sewing to ESL mentoring to gathering donations for newly arrived families. Finally, by making purchases from our social enterprise brand Etsy shop, Persona Grata Goods, you’re helping support the paid training aspect of our program for women who are advanced seamstresses.