Two female trainees are mastering fashion design and are thinking of competing in the local market

Sana’ Ibrahim al-Naddaf, 30, and Rasha Ahmed, 31, put the final touches on the first two pieces of fashion they designed, cut and completely sewed.

Both ladies reached this level of dressmaking only four weeks after the start of the vocational training within the fourth phase of the (Bazaar) project in Raqqa.

Al-Naddaf, who lives with her family and her only son, says that this training will allow her to contribute to improve the family’s standard of living.

This is the first time that al-Naddaf has been able to completely design, cut and sew a dress, while she is currently trying to master the design of pajamas and other fashions common in the local market of Raqqa, according to her. 

Now, she is living a whole new experience as she sees the results of the training that her hands make fashions, and she thinks about the nature of the next step after the end of the training and entering the work field, as she said. 

It is no different for Ahmed, who also lives with her family with her only daughter, as she was able to design, cut and sew a pajama and a fully female client for the first time.  

Ahmed says that mastering her dressmaking skills will enable her to enter the field of work and improve her standard of living, given the competition in the Raqqa market, which has thrived since its liberation from ISIS control in 2017.

She is now thinking about the next step after the end of her vocational training under the Bazaar project.  

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.