PROGRAMS: “Sewing Center”

San Francisco Chinameca is a small town in central El Salvador When asked why she wanted to work in a sewing business, one woman said, "Each day my children hear the street vendors call 'bread, bread' and they ask for bread. And I say 'maybe tomorrow.'"

Thanks to the organizing and planning of the Women's Association of Chinameca and two large grants from a group of Catholic sisters, Salvadoran Enterprises for Women provided initial and advanced training for twenty two women, purchased industrial machines needed for adult clothing, assisted with supplies and a year later, provided for the purchase of the building that houses the center.

This Sewing Center is the first endeavor focused on women in this town of approximately eight thousand people. It has afforded women a space to share common concerns, gain skills to become productive workers and have confidence as providers for their families.

The women of the sewing business are comprised of a group from Chinameca and a group from an outlaying village of Panchimilama. They are now a model of how women can develop themselves and provide economic development within their communities.