NAMPHAI, 13 Dec: Twenty-five female school dropouts were trained on tailoring during a 10 days residential course, which concluded at the Seva Kendra Arunachal East (SKAE) training centre here in Changlang district on Sunday.
The training was organized by the social service wing of Miao Diocese under the sponsorship of Usha International and Small Industrial Development Bank of India.
Speaking at the valedictory function, SKAE Director sister Sunita Parmar said, “This is not merely a training but empowerment of the school dropouts from the last villages of Arunachal Pradesh. This is also a community empowerment as the trained students are to train two more school dropout girls in their villages within a year.”
“Most of the trainees had never touched a sewing machine in all their life but now they can also repair one,” said the Carmelite Missionary nun.
The trainer from USHA international, Rumpi Handique Phukan, was highly impressed with the trainees’ grasping ability.
“These dropout girls from the interior villages of Lohit, Namsai and Changlang districts joined us as kachha (untrained) students without any prior knowledge of sewing. But they can stitch most of the basic clothing,” Phukan said.
Within 10 days of training, the trainees were able to cut and stitch kurti, basic block, pleated pants, patiala pants, palazzo pants, pleated skirts, petticoats and do hand embroidery and block painting.
SKAE Father Deepak Kannade told the trainees: “Let your training continue. Do not stop at this. Make this training as a foundation for a higher goal in life and do not stop till your goal is achieved”.
Free sewing machines and course completion certificates were distributed to all the trainees.
