Stitching Hope
The objective of the “Stitching Hope” program is to assist women in Chacraseca, Nicaragua in the development of a multi-faceted enterprise which will enable them to work together creating both fabric art articles for export and utilitarian items for local sale. It will create a center where women work with quality machines and adequate materials. It will also provide training for the women, equipping them with the business and financial tools they will need to market their products and run their business.
Five goals of Stitching Hope:
(1) provide opportunity for up to 30 women per center to work part time creating fabric art items and/or sewing items for export/local sales; provide additional jobs for an administrator and night guards
(2) provide training for women in financial and business management
(3) provide women a place to gather and engage in creative thinking and expression
(4) provide capital for other women-focused projects
(5) empower women; increase self-esteem and deepen women’s sense of self-worth, dignity, and capacity.
The long term dream is to develop the Stitching Hope project in stages with the first Stitching Hope Center serving both as a pilot project and as a funding source for other centers in other areas of the geographically challenging rural community. The first stage will focus on training a core group of 6 to 10 women who will then recruit and train other women; and on opening a sewing center with equipment and materials adequate for the work they are being trained to do.
Capital Budget for Stitching Hope Center: Phase One
$ 2,000 Land for Center
$ 15,000 Construction of Center building-Phase One
$ 8,000 10 sewing machines with various options and capacities
$ 3,000 Other supplies and equipment for start up and first nine months of operation
$ 1,000 Electric and water service; machine maintenance for first 9 months
$ 29,000 Total Capital Budget
Start-up Budget for Stitching Hope Program:
$12000 5 training workshops (sewing, fabric art, business mgmt) including travel expenses for
trainers, and a mid-day meal for the participants
$ 3,000 Nicaraguan consultant for 3 months
$ 2,700 Business administrator ($300 per month for 9 months)
$ 900 Accountant- ($100 per month for 9 months)
$ 900 Night guard
$ 5,000 JustHope project management administration for year
$24,500 Total Start-Up Program Budget
$53,500 Total Budget for Stitching Hope Project (Phase One)
JustHope Exploring Partner, Federated UCC in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, has dedicated it’s 2011 Christmas Eve Offering of $32,000 to the Stitching Hope Project. Phase One has been started and we hope to break ground on the new Center in April, 2012. We are looking for other Partners to complete the project! Please join us!
The second stage of Stitching Hope will be to duplicate this process in one or two other locations in this wide-spread community. Given that the community covers 50 square miles, and the only means of transportation for most of the women is walking… and given that the majority of women in Chacraseca are single mothers who must also care for their children and their homes, a single Center isn’t sufficient in Chacraseca. The women who live in the areas farthest from the Center – some of the poorest among the poor -- will not be able to access the opportunities the Center will provide. A second and possibly a third “branch” center – needs to be established in areas where the women can walk to it in an hour or less, work for several hours on projects that have real marketability, and return home with time left to do household and cooking chores.
The Centers will collaborate with one another in developing projects, resourcing the work, acquiring adequate training, and marketing the products. The women will become the trainers, and the centers will share administrative staff and systems. JustHope partners will provide the building capital; a grant will be sought to fund the equipment and supplies, and, hopefully, profits from the first Center will cover the cost of feeding the women during workshops. We estimate that this stage will start 6 to 9 months after the first stage.
