Program background:

In traditional values, the duty of women is perceived as selfless servant of the family.

Until 1980s, women only began to demand basic rights, but authority was still something we dared not ask for. As old saying goes "a woman's lack of talent is a virtue", thus empowering women violates traditional norm in patriarchal society. In the 1990s, women strived for more participation in decision-making because women became more confidence and knowledgeable to express their opinions. 

Empowerment of women is both process and outcome. The potential of female caregivers can be achieved through training and practice. As facilitators and social workers, they can also seek self-improvement by reflecting on their own experience. Both service target and service provider can be benefited from the program. 

Objectives:

Our program involves organizing a series of seminars and trainings in the theme of "Modern Women with Inspiration and Courage". The aim of this project is to inspire participants to think from a perspective of "care about your feelings and summon courage to begin". Participants will receive training and opportunity of selling their works at a vendor's stand. They will be encouraged to become part-time craftswomen or tutor of handcrafting class after this program, and ultimately achieve the goal of "mutual success achieved by support among women" The duration of program is 4 months. It is divided into four sessions which included regular seminars for sharing.

Content:

Through learning handcrafting skill, participants can expand their horizons and develop their potential. This program enriches participant’s life with high flexibility as it allows participants to apply their acquired skill as part-time craftswomen or tutor beside taking care of their family.

In addition, this program offers opportunities and platforms for participants to demonstrate their talents as "modern women" to the public and motivates "modern women" to be confident enough to explore their potential and share their works. The revenue from this program will be donated to handcrafts team of IDEAL for future development to achieve long-term independence for women. All participants will be involved with planning and decision making together for the purpose of practicing what they learned from classes. The final assignment includes design of vendor's stand, production of handcraft, promotional strategies, and personal selling. 

Service target: Parents/careers of members. 10-12 people per session to ensure that each participant receives appropriate attention.