Winner of ILO contest to set up uniform-stitching centre

Fashion design competition winner trains women in embroidery.

LAHORE: Salma Raheem, a 24-year-old resident of a small village Dera Jattan, located between Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalpur, trains women in embroidery in her village and hopes to set up a small uniform-stitching centre that will help women like her earn a living.

Raheem, the winner of the fashion design category of the Business Plan Competition ‘Khadija’ organised by the International Labour Organization (ILO), says she had always been inclined towards embroidery from her childhood – a norm in her village where women have a knack for hand embroidery.

“I learnt embroidery at a very young age as I used to see my mother doing it at home,” she says.

After completing her intermediate studies, Raheem used to do embroidery after college hours. “People loved my work and that’s where I got the encouragement to go ahead with it,” she says.

Specialising in bridal embroidery which she learnt during her training at a local NGO Truce, Raheem says women who want to pursue education or a career are often subjected to social pressures. “It is very important for society, especially family, to support women,” she says.

She has completed her diplomas in embroidery and dress-making and has been working at a training centre for the past six years. Initially starting with close to 20 women, Raheem claims now they have at least 100 women, including those from various nearby villages, who are being trained at the centre.



Designer Shayainne Malik, who provided training in bridal embroidery to women at Truce, says she trains women with the assistance of skilled workers from Karachi who specialise in Zardozi – a highly sought after bridal embroidery. It was Malik who recommended Raheem for participating in the entrepreneurship training and business plan programme of the ILO.

“The experience was great during which we learnt that businesses are not just set up overnight, they require thorough planning,” shares Raheem.

She and her team won 20 sewing machines in the fashion design category to execute their business plan. These machines will be placed in the planned stitching unit that will provide services to a school and a hospital being run under Truce.

“I was so happy when we were told we had won the competition, it was impossible to believe, we had struggled a lot and only we are aware of the difficulties we faced,” she says.

Raheem and other women working at the centre hope to continue their bridal embroidery and also hope to generate income through their stitching services. “We need more training programmes to help women polish their skills,” she says.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2012.