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Golden Hands Livelihood Educational Program Trains Women in Manila

ER’s desire to help women led to the formation of the Golden Hands Sewing group, which evolved into the Golden Hands Livelihood Educational Program one year later. We changed the name because the program was accomplishing far more than teaching sewing skills.

In 2012, a group of mothers and women from a small community of poor informal settlements in Makati City decided to meet on a regular basis. Their purpose is to spend productive time learning more skills.

Extreme Response Asia’s Golden Hands Livelihood Educational Program took the initiative to train, educate and organize the women, most of whom come from the informal settlements. The aim of the program is to invest into the lives of women living in extreme and often life-threatening situations.

Program director Anne Benavidez developed a community-based curriculum for the group. They meet once a week for values formation and skills enhancement. They were taught how to do basic sewing and pattern making for skirts, swing bags, double-sided aprons and a whole lot more. During the training, the women developed not only their skills, but also business acumen, self-confidence and valuable relationships.

Like caterpillars emerging as beautiful butterflies from their cocoons, members of the Golden Hands Livelihood Education Program celebrate graduating from the program every year. During the graduation ceremony, each woman wears a garment they made themselves and enjoys a time of recognition, glamour and thankfulness. Each graduate also receives a new sewing machine.

These graduations are a very big deal.  All the women come from humble backgrounds. Most live in squatter communities and struggle with extreme poverty, substandard living conditions and a lack of opportunity.

To get to this point, the women committed to attend weekly classes for eight months and finish all their assignments. They learned cutting, pattern making, basic sewing, crocheting and some knitting. In addition to the women, two groups of young ladies have taken and passed introductory sewing classes. In 2020 we anticipate seeing the 100th female graduate.

Learn more about Golden Hands >