Republic of the Congo – In a context hostile to women, a future as seamstress opens up for young mothers

02 March 2020

(ANS - Brazzaville) - According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) the risks of being a woman in Congo are very high. In fact, the journalist M. Velasquez writes: "Congo can be called 'the worst place in the world for a woman'". On the outskirts of the capital of the Republic of the Congo, Brazzaville, the Vocational Training Center (VTC) of the Salesian house "Cité Don Bosco" serves a large number of minors within a working class neighborhood. Many of the young inhabitants of the area attend the vocational training courses offered by the Salesians, which welcome 600 students every day.

In consideration of the situation of female in that context, the Salesians have long proposed to start a new project for the young women who attend the work, with the aim of opening a workshop to train future seamstresses. Now the initiative has started and intends to place women in distress in the neighborhood as a priority for training. The profile of the beneficiaries is in fact that of the girls and young people who have left school for some time and who in most cases are single mothers.

In addition to training as seamstresses, the 35 first lucky young women who participate in the program will also receive, at the end of the course, help to start a small income-generating business, so that they can support themselves and their families and feel like active and recognized citizens in society.

The program enjoys the support of the Salesian Mission Office of the "Don Bosco Missions" of Turin, as part of the projects for the promotion of women, and aims to contrast those factors such as poverty and the lack of opportunities and jobs that are fertile ground for gender inequalities.

Teaching young people a profession therefore becomes an opportunity to (re)claim the importance of the role that women play within the family and society. And thanks to this vocational training course set up by the Salesian center, the promotion of female talents receives a new impetus in this vulnerable area of Brazzaville.

Offering young people the tools to live in society as citizens aware of their rights and duties is the main objective of the "Cité Don Bosco" Salesian Center in Brazzaville which, in addition to the workshop for future seamstresses, offers other courses in Mechanics, Welding, Carpentry, Construction, Agriculture and Livestock, Electronics and Air Conditioning Installations.

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