Sakeena Katpar, 28, is a resident of Naudero tehsil of Larkana district in Sindh. She aspires to become a dress designer, not just because she is interested in fashion and designing clothes, but more so to be able to support her widow mother, and to see her two school-going brothers, who work part-time at a garage, through college.

Since her father has passed away, the eldest among her siblings, Sakeena feels that if she becomes self-reliant, her family can have a better future. Every morning she goes to the Larkana bus stop to catch a bus to the Sartiyoon (women in Sindhi) vocational training centre. Like many other girls in Naudero, here she learns to sew and design clothes, and make the best of this opportunity while living somewhere with not many growth and development opportunities for women.

Founded by Khalid Hussain Kori, a 40-year-old social worker, for the purpose of empowering rural women, the Sartiyoon Training Centre is neither a government institution nor an NGO, but an individual’s endeavour. Since the past three months, more than 40 girls and women arrive daily to the centre to learn various skills that can help them generate an income.

On any working day, one can see many masked, burqa-clad women busy stitching fabric on sewing machines, including the 20-year-old Afroze Khatoon, who wants to set up a similar centre for more women to become independent. Belonging to a working-class family, she is determined to support herself and her family.

Ironically, the Sartiyoon Centre is located in Naudero, which is known as the hometown of the Bhutto family, where even the shrines of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto are located. But, until Khalid took an initiative, there were no free vocational training opportunities there for women. As a result when the Sartiyoon Centre was established, Khalid received over 80 applications from young women wishing to learn skills to empower themselves.

Earlier, the Sartiyoon centre had been set up in Kotri town of Jamshoro district, but after realising that it would be more beneficial in Larkana, Khalid relocated it to Naudero. Initially, he used his own small savings to set the place up which needed sewing machines, fabric, needles, thread and other basic haberdashery paraphernalia. But later, donations and support came in from people. “There are some vocational training institutions in Naudero but they charge a monthly fee that the rural and working-class women cannot afford to pay,” says Khalid. “This was the primary reason for setting up the Sartiyoon Centre, so that women who cannot afford to pay fees could be accommodated.”

Realising that social media is instrumental in creating awareness, Khalid has used Twitter and other digital platforms to highlight the socio-economic issues of Sindh. In 2010, he took early retirement from government service to work with people to eradicate their socio-economic issues.

“When admissions started at the centre, I was amazed at the initial response from women of the area,” he says. “But at the same time, I also felt happy that these women have the initiative, drive and willingness to want to do something for themselves and that their families allowed them to do so. Basically, they are talented and need nurturing. Due to limited resources, only 40 women could be accommodated in the first batch. Let’s hope that in future we can train and empower more than 100 women at a time.”

Besides cutting, designing, embroidery and sewing, women also learn to make handicrafts such as wall hangings, bed covers and sheets, the traditional ralli and tablecloths. Khalid explains that since there is a huge demand for handcrafted items in the market, with this skill that they can generate an income for themselves. Basic sales and marketing training is offered so that they can get jobs at product promotion stalls in different cities of Sindh, as well for online marketing. Apart from basic education and support in reading and writing, online and video lectures by educated women from different cities including Karachi and Lahore are arranged to motivate these women.

“Now that I have this opportunity to learn, I will take full advantage of it,” says Shazia, 28, whose father is a primary school teacher. “The environment at Sartiyoon Centre is homely and I am happy to be with like-minded women who want to be empowered.”

According to Primary Education Project, an NGO, only 23% of women in rural Sindh are educated, while 85% are deprived of basic education due to a lack of resources, poverty, and social norms of patriarchy.

Women have higher unemployment rates compared to men in both rural and urban areas in all sectors including white-collar jobs, according to the Sindh Government Women Development Department. This is due to lower level of education and skills among women and social norms ― issues that needs to be addressed by the government, NGOs, and progressive political parties.

“We just want to be a medium to encourage their talent,” Khalid says. “Considering the huge level of women’s unemployment because of the lack of education, skill training and opportunities available to them, this is just a small effort to empower them by providing a platform.”

In just a few months, the first batch of women have learned to make various embroidered household and interior decoration items. At the recently held Sindh Literature Festival in Karachi, the women of Sartiyoon centre had a stall, where they exhibited and sold their hand-crafted items.

“The proceeds from the items sold go directly to these women,” says Khalid. “Previously, NGOs have cashed in on the work of these women and not paid them adequately. They would buy handicraft items from these women at cheap prices and sell elsewhere for more money. With the Sartiyoon centre, this exploitation has come to an end.”

A unique feature at the Sartiyoon centre, is a special wall for women to express their thoughts, which also motivates them to learn to write. “I want to be a role model”, “I never thought I had the ability to fulfill my dreams”, and “After learning from here, I have discovered that I exist, so I can live” are a few examples of the thoughts expressed on the wall in Sindhi.

After completing their training at the Sartiyoon centre, the first batch of women are now working from home, getting orders from the surrounding areas as well as online to stitch clothes and make handicrafts. For those who cannot afford to buy a sewing machine, the Sartiyoon centre is open to support and donations. Dedicated Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages have also been created to promote the centre. The daily activities of the women at the centre as well as their creations are posted on these pages. “When their creations are sold online, the money is directly given to them,” says Khalid who also plans to teach computer technology at the centre, but needs to put together funds for the project. “When I see how these women work hard and are committed to their cause, it gives me inner peace.”

Farheen Naz, 30, teaches dress cutting, designing, and sewing at the centre. Originally from Karachi, she came to live in Naudero after she got married. Her dream was to make a name for herself as a designer in the fashion industry, but now feels that since she has been training women at Sartiyoon, the fulfillment of her dream has begun. “These women have great potential,” says Farheen. “They are quick learners, pick up fast and surprise me by coming up with new ideas in no time. Initially, they were taught basic dress cutting and sewing, but are now learning to design other garments as well.”

The Sartiyoon centre has also taken some human resource initiatives. While hygiene and cleanliness are priorities, medical is free for the women being trained here. Some doctors in Naudero have kindly agreed to treat these women free of charge in their clinics and hospitals. In case of major health issues, they are treated at half the cost in the private hospitals in Larkana city.

Women from economically weaker or marginalised backgrounds grow up experiencing discrimination in access to learning opportunities and economic resources. In a situation where a family’s meagre resources need to be prioritised, boys get preference in being supported towards seeking education. Girls grow up accepting their lot in life and make do with whatever learning opportunity is on offer locally, only to stop at the level up to which it is available, which may be only up to high school in several cases.

Our education system has been unable to provide suitable and locally relevant programmes to women from economically weaker backgrounds due to lack of vision on the part of policy makers at government level. Khalid points out that entrepreneurship education along with skill development could solve the problem of women’s wages, employment and family support. Considering their local needs, culture and geographic realities, the government and private sector initiated programmes for skilling women must be geared towards empowerment of women, and slowly take them from manual to desk jobs.

Now, after the first batch of this centre is busy supporting their families and economically in a better place, the second batch has arrived at the centre. Gradually, the Sartiyoon centre is gaining acceptance and recognition all over Sindh. And who would know better than Khalid, that self-help is the best help.

The writer is a Sindh-based multimedia media journalist. He can be reached at @RehmatTunio/alirehmat36@gmail.com

All facts and information are the responsibility of the writer