Women’s empowerment project with the IOM

Up-fuse was honored to be conducting a 15 day intensive training program for 15 women refugees from Sudan, Syria, Eritrea and 15 Egyptian women to help create green jobs for social and environmental adaptation and mitigation for climate change. We are proud and honored to be chosen for such an empowering project and to get a chance to be part of an inspiring story for each woman participating.

This empowering project consisted of teaching them how to start a business and learn how to sew. Firstly we split them into groups to develop friendships and create a smooth communication. During the course, they had a class about the basics of business and how to develop one from scratch. They were taught about the finances, the risks, and how to create a business plan. Then we tackled the sewing part : each day consisted of practicing a new skill until they perfected it. Each member created her own project from scratch, products varied from “Abaya’s (traditional dress), pants and blouses to bags and purses.

Later on, they were ready to start learning the process of creating bags like Up-fuse’s by using our methods to up-cycle the plastic bags. They were taught by our team to create high quality materials to be able to transform them into bags you can wear. 

The training included courses about how to present your products online and how different pictures are used for different purposes. (For example they were taught the difference between social media pictures and website pictures). The next exercise was to practice copywriting and each member wrote a description for all the products she created by herself for when she needs to open an online business. We made sure to give them the skills and tools so they could succeed on their own. 

On the last training day they had a workshop dedicated to learn how to manage finances and manage budgets and make profit, and how to invest the money they earn. 

By the end of this project, a fashion event was held to present all their clothing and to honor them and congratulate them on their efforts throughout the weeks. The online media covered this show to shed light on the importance of women in sustainable business and how small actions contribute to the bigger global cause of climate change and social inclusivity.

Leading an empowering program for women is definitely an honor to Up-fuse and we look forward to being part of more projects like such in the future.