Nepal: The B Project

Tailoring Training for Skill Development

Student Progression

In late August, Project B accountant, Sandesh Dhakal, and the project manager, Kushal Harjani, visited the village of Bhotenamlang for several days to evaluate the women’s tailoring program. During their visit, Sandesh and Kushal:

• Interviewed each trainee individually,
• Spoke with the teacher,
• Held group discussions,
• Observed the students and teacher, and
• Evaluated the clothing that students have sewn.

Tailoring Training

Challenges

Despite their good progress, the overwhelming response from trainees was that they need more time. Many trainees expressed a desire to extend the program by 3 months, and all of them said that they find stitching a shirt and pants or a school uniform to be the most difficult task. Also, because these articles of clothing are taught last, trainees do not have much time to practice sewing them. After our observations and speaking with the teacher and trainees, we have decided to extend training by 1 month to ensure that at the minimum, trainees can confidently stitch a high-quality shirt, pants, and a frock. (There is a great demand for trainees to learn how to sew a frock as well, since most schoolgirls prefer a frock over pants in the summer.)

Tailoring Training Next Steps

Improving the Training

Our plans for the program, Tailoring Training for Skill Development, are as follows:

• Students will each contribute NPR 1,500 for the additional month of training. This is a nominal sum, but will help trainees claim ownership of their education.
• Absenteeism will not be tolerated unless a trainee is very sick. After 2 absences, a trainee will not be able to stay in the program.
• After completing the program, trainees who wish to set up a tailoring shop will get to keep their machines at a slightly discounted price. They will have to pay back the price of the machines in installments. This is important for us to fulfill our goal of setting up and promoting entrepreneurship among the trainees.

Tailoring Training Next Steps

Continued

• Trainees will take a practical exam at the end of the month, testing their ability to stitch a shirt, pants, and a frock. Trainees earning the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd highest scores on the exam will get special discounts on their machines. They will also pay back the discounted price in monthly installments.
• Trainees buying their sewing machines will form a group to guarantee against defaults. If one member of the group defaults, everyone has to pitch in a little more for the defaulter. This creates a type of social pressure to ensure that trainees keep up with their installments. The major motive behind not distributing sewing machines for free is so that trainees have a strong sense of investment and ownership, which in turn drives them to use the machine and their training to build an economically productive business.

Bhotenamlang Secondary School

Update

One of the 8 schools where Seven Summits Women provides nutritious midday meals to students (in partnership with RMF) is Bhotenamlang Secondary School. On our last visit, we were glad to find that school administrators and students reported the availability of a free midday meal has caused school attendance to increase and improved students’ overall health. While visiting the village of Bhotenamlang in late August 2016, we found that the storeroom conditions needed to be improved. Also, there seems to be a decent amount of pilferage by teachers.

Secondary School

Next Steps

• Due to the program’s cost, storeroom problems, and teacher pilferage, we need to reevaluate whether the program should continue and on what scale.
• We submit that it could be better to continue the program in only 3 or 4 schools where children travel long distances to attend class; it is perhaps not best to continue the program in all 8 schools.
• No additional supplies should be sent to the schools until they can provide a clean, separate storage space.
• An accountability mechanism is being implemented to make sure that food is being stored properly and given to the schoolchildren. We plan to get parents involved and form a parents’ committee.