What challenges do refugee women face when arriving in a new country?

Refugee women often face challenges with obtaining necessary paperwork, which makes them invisible and hinders access to healthcare and education. They also struggle with finding employment due to regulations and accreditation issues.

Why is sewing a suitable skill for the women Skill Street works with?

Sewing is culturally acceptable and sensible within their contexts, allowing them to work from home while maintaining family responsibilities. This aligns with traditional roles and provides a flexible income source.

How does Skill Street ensure participants can attend training?

Skill Street provides transport and a light meal during training sessions. This addresses the significant cost and time barriers that participants face, ensuring a higher attendance rate.

How does Skill Street support learning beyond the primary training sessions?

They use WhatsApp for direct communication and feedback, send pre-recorded video tutorials, and maintain a virtual support group for encouragement, leveraging existing technology to overcome time and device limitations.

What is the typical duration of Skill Street's sewing program?

The program program typically lasts for six months, with intensive training sessions often occurring once a week.

How does Skill Street measure the success and impact of its programs?

Skill Street uses both traditional metrics like employment and sales data, and non-traditional methods like observing increased confidence, emotional well-being, and community bonding, often symbolized by participants bringing cake to sessions.

How are the products made by the women marketed and sold?

Products are marketed through craft markets, partnerships with organizations like Jumeirah Mosque and Sheikh Mohammed Center, and an online platform. Corporate gifts and private sales also contribute.

What happens after the formal training period ends?

After the 120-day training and three months of production, Skill Street supports the women in transitioning to sustainable income. Many continue to work with Skill Street or develop their own businesses within a cooperative model.

Does Skill Street help participants start their own independent businesses?

While participants are encouraged to take their skills further, the program primarily operates within a cooperative model facilitated by Skill Street. Starting an independent business with its own license is possible but often unnecessary due to the cooperative structure.

Key Moments

Beyond Tech - Migration Summit 2023

MIT OpenCourseWare

Education3 min read88 min video

Apr 28, 2023|56 views|1

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Key Moments

TL;DR

Sewing skills empower displaced women economically and culturally, offering livelihood beyond tech.

Key Insights

Sewing is a culturally relevant low-tech solution for economic empowerment, particularly for women in crisis.

Displaced women face significant barriers due to lack of documentation, digital literacy, and language.

Programs must address practical needs like transportation and childcare to ensure participation.

Impact measurement goes beyond statistics, encompassing emotional well-being and community building.

Creative approaches, like offering meals and using familiar crafts, foster trust and engagement.

Home-based work empowers women to balance family responsibilities with income generation.

THE CHALLENGE FOR WOMEN ON THE MOVE

Women displaced by conflict or crisis often leave their homes quickly, carrying only essentials and their families. Upon arrival in new communities, they face numerous challenges, including securing vital documentation, which renders them invisible and limits access to healthcare and education. Unlike male or non-displaced migrant workers who can more easily navigate bureaucratic processes for jobs and services, these women struggle significantly, often facing exclusion due to lack of paperwork and accreditation that may not be recognized in their new country.

SEWING AS A CULTURALLY RELEVANT SOLUTION

Skill Street Creative Enterprise for Social Impact utilizes sewing as a primary tool for economic empowerment. This approach is particularly effective because sewing is a culturally acceptable and relevant skill for women from many disadvantaged communities, allowing them to work from home while managing domestic responsibilities. Unlike tech-focused initiatives that can widen the digital divide, low-tech skills like sewing offer immediate, accessible livelihood opportunities, respecting women's traditional roles while enabling financial independence and family support.

ADDRESSING PRACTICAL NEEDS FOR PARTICIPATION

Ensuring women's consistent participation in training programs requires addressing practical barriers. Skill Street provides essential support, including transportation stipends to cover travel costs, which can be a significant financial hurdle. Offering a shared meal during sessions serves multiple purposes: it provides nourishment for women who may have traveled long distances, acts as a natural break, and creates a relaxed environment for building trust and rapport between instructors and participants, fostering a more supportive learning atmosphere.

HOLISTIC PROGRAM DESIGN AND IMPACT MEASUREMENT

The program extends beyond basic skill training, incorporating elements that build confidence and foster community. From day one, support is provided to ease initial nervousness and build trust. Impact measurement is approached creatively, moving beyond traditional metrics to include emotional well-being. The sharing of food, like cakes, becomes a tangible indicator of trust, connection, and happiness, illustrating the program's success in fostering a supportive community and enhancing participants' overall quality of life.

LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY FOR LEARNING SUPPORT

While emphasizing low-tech skills, the program strategically uses technology to enhance learning and communication. WhatsApp is employed for direct communication, allowing participants to seek guidance and submit homework without embarrassment. This facilitates an individualized approach, enabling instructors to provide timely feedback, edit work on-screen, and offer support. Recorded video and voice notes, often translated into Arabic, cater to varying learning paces and access to devices, ensuring continuous engagement and skill development.

TRANSITIONING TO LIVELIHOOD AND MARKET ACCESS

After the initial training, participants transition to a production phase where they create marketable products. The program supports this transition by providing machines for home use and offering training in business skills, including pricing, profit, and loss calculation. Products are marketed through craft markets, online platforms, and partnerships with cultural institutions. Dockets are used to track submissions and facilitate timely payments, incentivizing quality and accuracy, and empowering women to earn income and contribute to their families' economic stability.

CREATING ENTREPRENEURS AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURES

The ultimate goal is to foster entrepreneurship and long-term economic mobility. By equipping women with valuable skills, business acumen, and market access, the program enables them to generate income and improve their lives. Creating their own labels and participating in sales not only provides financial benefits but also instills a sense of ownership and pride. This entrepreneurial journey contributes to their visibility, self-worth, and strengthens community bonds, creating a ripple effect of empowerment.

Mentioned in This Episode

●Software & Apps

●Organizations

●Concepts

Keys to Success in Skill Street's Program

Practical takeaways from this episode

Do This

Provide transport to participants.

Offer a meal during training sessions.

Utilize technology like WhatsApp and video tutorials for support.

Allow participants to take sewing machines home.

Be flexible with lesson plans to maintain engagement.

Impart entrepreneurial skills like pricing and profit-loss calculation.

Implement a docket system for accurate payment tracking.

Pay participants immediately upon receiving products.

Foster a sense of ownership by including participant names on labels.

Encourage collaboration and peer-to-peer learning.

Avoid This

Underestimate the importance of family buy-in, especially from men.

Rely solely on traditional, numbers-based impact measurement.

Discourage participants from sharing skills with family and community.

Not acknowledge the non-monetary impacts like confidence and well-being.

Forget that food can be a powerful tool for community building and trust.

Product Sales Data During Program Sustainability Phase

Data extracted from this episode

Period	Participants	Total Earnings (AED)	Total Earnings (USD)	Total Earnings (GBP)	Total Earnings (EUR)
September - December	20 Women	17,410	$4,740	£3,800	€4,325

Common Questions

Skill Street uses sewing as a primary skill to create livelihood and financial mobility for women from disadvantaged communities. They focus on low-tech solutions tailored to cultural contexts.

Topics

Sewing Livelihood Creation Low-tech Solutions Impact Measurement Cultural Context UAE

Mentioned in this video

locationBahaka Camp

A refugee camp north of Mosul in Kurdistan, Iraq, where Skill Street conducted a sewing workshop.

conceptSadu

A fabric material synonymous with the UAE, known for its geometric prints and used in furnishings, which Skill Street incorporates into their product designs to support the local economy.

organizationSheikh Mohammed Center

A cultural center in Dubai with which Skill Street has partnered, contributing to the sale of products made by the women and promoting tourism.

locationJumeirah Mosque

A mosque in Dubai that has a retail section where Skill Street's products are sold, serving as a significant sales channel and a testament to the quality of the women's work.

organizationCrown Foundation

An organization that, along with MIT React, is sponsoring or hosting the event.

locationMosul

A city in Iraq that is the home region for some of the women in the Bahaka Camp who learned sewing skills to use when they return.

organizationSkills Street

Co-founders Carla and Theresa's organization that uses sewing to create livelihood and financial mobility for women from disadvantaged communities.