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Success Story
Nigerian woman affected
by polio renews hope
with sewing training
With Skills Come Brighter Prospects
Photo: Mohammed Jiya-Doko
Members of Kano Polio Victims Trust Association during a rally at the palace of the Emir of Kano, northern Nigeria.
“I gave up hope of ever
learning anything... The
future looked bleak,” said
Amina Abdullahi before
starting USAID-supported
sewing training in Nigeria.
Amina Abdullahi sat on a wooden stool in a crowded workshop.
With a slight smile, she held a hand-dyed cotton cloth on its edge,
guiding it through the new sewing machine. As she pushed the
cloth, one could see that both her hands were slightly twisted.
She is just one of thousands in Nigeria who have contracted polio,
an infectious, viral disease that invades the nervous system and
can cause paralysis. Many of those who have contracted polio
face discrimination in Nigeria and find it difficult to lead a normal
life. For Abdullahi, the situation worsened when her father died
and she became the sole provider for her family. Although trained
as a tailor, she could not find employers who would let her practice
in their shop.
“I gave up hope of ever learning anything, as no one would accept
me. And, with my father’s demise, the future looked bleak,” she
said.
Abdullahi learned of the Kano Polio Victims Trust Association,
an organization set up to provide financial and technical support,
including vocational training, for its members so they can engage
in cottage industries to support their families. Hoping to learn new
skills and set up her own shop, Abdullahi joined 30 women in the
tailoring class where they took turns practicing on two sewing
machines. They often had to wait around for as long as four days
to get a chance at the machines. Most of them gave up.
Learning of the situation, USAID provided the association with
new equipment, including 10 sewing machines, five knitting
machines and two specialized embroidery machines. The news
spread fast among association members, and Abdullahi and most
of the other trainees returned to the center, along with 23 new
members in the tailoring classes.
Later, Abdullahi was admitted into the advanced vocational skills
acquisition training. “I was filled with tears when my name was
called as one of those to benefit from the special training,” she
said. After only three weeks in this advanced class, she has
improved her sewing skills and is confident she can use them to
fulfill her dream of opening her own shop.
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