Bazaar’s vocational training opens new horizons for women from Raqqa

Thurayya Hassan, 34, and Anoud Ahmed, 28, succeeded in completing the design and cutting of a full pajama for the first time three weeks after they joined the vocational training of the fourth phase of the (Bazaar) project.

Hassan is now thinking about the first steps to launch a small project at the end of the training that will last for two and a half months, while Ahmed is thinking of joining one of the local workshops after mastering all the skills necessary to work within a specialized female team.  

According to both women, the training provided by the Bazaar project in its fourth phase will help them master craft skills, as well as marketing skills and how to compete in the local market that has thrived since the liberation of Raqqa three years ago.

Hassan said that she gained a lot of confidence in her skills after she was able to master the basic steps in design and tailoring (such as taking measurements, how to design and cut the dress, the client, and the skirt…etc.).  

According to her, being able to design and cut a full pajama for the first time gave her a moral to think about how to move to the next step and start her own business through which she will be able to support her family and improve their living conditions.

On the other hand, Ahmed said that she began to feel the thrill of achievement when she mastered the skills of design and cutting, which are among the first basic skills in the field of dressmaking.

She is currently thinking of planning the next step and joining a local workshop to improve her living situation and secure the treatment expenses for her only sick daughter.  

Practical training in the dressmaking profession started on June 12, with the participation of 24 women from Raqqa city, in an attempt to support the women in securing continuous and stable livelihoods for them through an intensive training program, in addition to training in professional marketing over a period of two and a half months.

The general context of the project supports the reintegration of the female trainees into the labor market in line with the plan to provide them with technical support, help them obtain stable job opportunities, and focus on improving their economic level to allow them to rely on themselves and secure a stable income for their families, and to achieve financial independence for them.  

The project comes in its fourth phase after empowering the skills of 84 male and female trainees from the residents of Tel al-Samen camp and Raqqa city during the previous three phases in the professions of sewing, dressmaking, haircut, hairdressing, plumbing, gypsum board and home electricity, in addition to professional marketing training.