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NAIROBI TAILOR TRAINING PROJECT
History of the Project
 In
an effort to help themselves, the refugees founded the Nairobi Refugee
Fellowship. A women's division of the Fellowship was established
to plan ways for helping the women refugees. The ideal put forward
my Mrs. Cornelia Manirampa was threefold: to bring the women together
in this difficult time, to give them an opportunity to do something
concrete to help their families, and to provide them with a type
of training which they could use to earn an income when they returned
to their own countries. This developed into the tailor training
project.
The tailor training project started in spring 1998
with 20 women participants and with 18 used sewing machines sent
to them by British Friends. There were two teachers originally.
But with a shortage of funds, only one, has continued the professional
training.
In October 2000, 10 of the 18 machines were given
to the women who had successfully completed the training. Without
these, they would have been unable to practice their trade to support
their families.
In November 2000 two new courses were started,. One consisted of
8 beginners, including non-Quakers. Another was started with 7 women
who had finished their training with the purpose of producing goods
to earn money for the project itself. This latter course, however,
has found it difficult to find buyers for sewed items in Nairobi
itself, in spite of the good quality of these items. In spite of
this, both courses continue. In January of this year Cornelia Manirampa
returned to Burundi. But she has left the project with a vibrant
committee set up by Mrs. Manirampawith the help of Donald Thomas,
a Kenyan Friend and a former Professor at Nairobi University, who
handles the finances and provides much other council and assistance,
together with Mrs. Heidi Schulthess, a Swiss handicrafts teacher
and a volunteer helper, who will return to Switzerland this summer,
and Mrs. Barbie Bali-Sharma, a member of the American Women's Club
in Nairobi., Donald Thomas and Barbie Bali-Sharma, in a volunteer
capacity, continue to advise and support the Project.
There are now about 20 women attending the Courses.
Mrs. Barbie Bali-Sharma writes in one of her letters: "These
women are marvelous. I was amazed about their dedication and purpose.
So much adversity, real suffering and abject hardships and poverty.
They work for survival. And believe me, it IS hard.....Within their
predicament they get on with their responsibilities and are even
happy and grateful for what comes along. WOMEN! I tell you they
are made of wonderful stuff!"
Need for more sewing machines
 The
Switzerland yearly Meeting Service Committee, however, is looking
beyond the operating financial needs of the project.
In order to enable the women to earn money on a sustainable
basis for their families after the completion of their training
and on returning to their homes, every women should be given a sewing
machine These are used hand-operated sewing machines available in
Kenya, at prices of approximately 360 Swiss francs or £150
or $225.
Switzerland Yearly Meeting's Involvement in
the Project
In autumn 1996 the Service Committee received an urgent appeal from
Martin Wilkinson, QPS, asking if we could contribute to the aid
they were supplying to refugees from Burundi and Rwanda who had
fled to Kenya because of the war in their countries. QPS was unable
to provide money for medical assistance for these refugees, who
were in very poor physical condition on their arrival. He asked
if Switzerland YM could provide this aid. We had no special fund
then and there was no money designated by the YM. On November 29
the Service Committee sent out a special appeal for contributions
for this purpose, with a cut-off date of December 15. The need was
urgent and had to be supplied as quickly as possible. On December
19, 1996, our treasurer transferred the money to Nairobi which we
had managed to collect.
 Since
1998, the Service Committee has provided funds for training these
women in tailoring in order to help sustain them. Kenyan Quakers
have also done what they could, but with very limited means there
were able to furnish only a little material support. In addition,
British Quakers in the first few years furnished humanitarian aid,
such as food, clothing and medicines, as well as help to find low-cost
housing.
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