The Nanaimo Sewing School in Guyana

Posted by Craig Clarke

gradscorriverton_onefive 2k

Andra with graduates in Corriverton, February 2011.

Andra's first sewing school opened its doors in early November 2009, in New Amsterdam, a relatively small town with a population of about 35,000. The target group were young High School drop-outs; however, many housewives applied and were admitted. At the end of the 16-week course, 17 women graduated.

The second School began in October 2010 in Corriverton, an even smaller town with a population of about 17,000. At the graduation ceremony in February 2011, each of the 12 women graduates was given a sewing machine and the Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana said that this “gift of a sewing machine at graduation is a unique and powerful empowering process to women in the community”.

The third school will start on August 29^th 2011 and run for 16 weeks. The deadline for donating machines was July 15^th. These machines were serviced and packed and sent to Guyana and each graduate will receive a machine upon graduation.

As a young man in Guyana Andra Thakur was a professional tailor. After coming to Canada in 1966 he had a very good life, retiring recently from a successful career as a Professor of Anthropology at Vancouver Island University. In his retirement he is now returning to Guyana to teach sewing classes.

He does this because he believes that these skills will keep young people off the streets and provide a solid opportunity to earn a livelihood. The essence of sustainability is getting local organizations involved so that they take on some ownership of the projects. In Guyana, local support for the 2009-2010 class came from Guyana Women in Development, a local Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). Support for the 2010-11 class came from the Rotary Club of Corriverton. Support for the upcoming class is from GuyFUSE, another womens' organization that does the recruiting and organizing on the ground.

In teaching the sewing skills, the students focus on measuring, cutting and sewing school uniforms. The cloth is purchased locally and all the clothing sewn is in turn donated to the poorer children in the primary schools. In 2010 the School donated over 500 pieces of primary school uniforms. In 2011, the School donated 900 pieces of clothing to the children. It is truly amazing what the Nanaimo Sewing School has accomplished.

Click here to view report with pictures from Guyana

The Rotary Club of Corriverton, Guyana has contributed $1000 to the third school session starting next month. Andra is asking local Rotary clubs make contributions toward the $6,720 budget for the project.