Miemie didn’t know how she was going to provide for her growing household. A widow, the South African woman was alone in caring for her own son as well as 3 nephews orphaned by her sister’s death and an abandoned niece. Miemie stretched the family’s food even thinner when she found a little girl abandoned on her doorstep. Desperate not to have to send anyone to the street, she had to find a way to make money.

Thankfully, the family’s situation turned around when Miemie found out one of our sewing centers was offering training nearby. Participants in the sewing program represent the poorest of the poor across South Africa. A few are sick with HIV/AIDS and can’t find other employment. Others were prostitutes looking for a way out, some are single parents, and some have husbands who can’t find steady work. Miemie was among the first group of students to be trained at Dlamini.

Her enthusiasm and dreams to succeed as a seamstress motivated our trainers to start a Home Production Unit in Miemie’s home. This option is given when women face transportation problems and can’t get to the local center on a regular basis. The excited mother shared, “When the pastor presented this opportunity, my heart said to me, ‘this is for you’. I believe we will make a living and help many people to know Jesus and put bread on the table for the children. I will give myself fully to the project. Working from home will give me time to care for my children.”

Setting Up
Home Production Unit (HPU) leaders like Miemie are chosen when they complete basic sewing and leadership training. They need to have access to electricity and space for the equipment. Leaders have to recruit two students as well. Once approved, the women receive and are responsible for the maintenance of one steel table, three chairs, three sewing machines, one steam iron and adjoining table, measuring tape, scissors as well as sewing materials.

Successful Repetition
All Home Production Units work Monday through Friday. Every Thursday Miemie’s team meets with the other HPUs at the local center. They turn in the finished product, are assigned new orders and share experiences. Centers are currently working on orders that include school uniforms, shirts, bathroom sets (toilet lid and cistern cover, toilet paper role cover), bedroom sets (duvet and pillow covers), curtains and table sets (placemats, coasters and napkins). There is also room for the women to advance in the sewing program. Trainees are encouraged to start their own HPUs.

Our sewing program isn’t even five years old yet! Already there are thirty centers and numerous Hope Production Units across South Africa. This is allowing hundreds of women to be able to provide basic food, shelter, clothing and education for their children.

Project coordinator Ken Pettitt shares, “I am humbled by the endurance and tenacity of these people. The generosity of our partners to the endurance of our participants -- it all points to the great love that God has for mankind.

“These people who are participating in this project deal with unthinkable hardships every day. The very fact that they are trying to better themselves speaks volumes about their character… We have much to learn from them in this… Together we have been able to bring a little hope and encouragement into their lives.”

Make a Big Difference
So many women like Miemie desire to make a living, but need help taking that first step into the workplace – especially when jobs are all but non-existent. Your gift $50 can give a South American family enough livestock to begin a profitable farm; $100 can train and equip a woman in Africa or Asia to be seamstress; and just $150 can help an unemployed father or mother in the USA begin the move from welfare to the workforce through our 16-week Life Skills Empowerment program.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

This microenterprise venture is one of many Operation Blessing projects touching lives around the world. You can be a part of improving the quality of life for impoverished communities by supporting these and other life-changing programs.

 

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