Our Blog: Macau Oilmen’s Group

Laxmi's Tomatoes

Laxmi was married at the age of 19. Now 40, she lives in Pokhara and has a son and a daughter. Her husband is a driver but is not able to earn enough to be able to sustain their family financially.

They were in financial strife and when Laxmi heard about the My Business My Freedom program, she joined.

Her first loan was for Rs 40,000 [US$300] where she made a greenhouse to grow tomatoes. Now her tomato plants are growing and look good. She is very happy to own the greenhouse and if thankful for the opportunity to be able to financially support her needy family.

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21 Women Graduated of Tailoring Skills Training

After three months of intensive training, the My First Job Tailoring Training for Women was successfully completed in Xunhua region in China. Helping local women master an employable skill is the goal of this project. After a round of intense interviews and preparation before training, the training officially began on January 15, 2022.

During this period, the training was suspended for eight days because of the Chinese new year holiday, and then the class was resumed immediately after the break. 21 out of 29 participants completed successfully. Eight trainees quit the program one after another after attending the training for more than one month due to changes in family affairs and personal plans. The remaining 21 students completed the study.

Under the careful guidance of the training teacher, these 21 students can basically complete clothes independently from the simple design, cutting and sewing at the beginning to the end. Although there is much improvement that the students can gain, most  of those who participated can complete the basic styles of Tibetan clothes independently. The future employment of these students depend on their own skills and career plan. It is our  hope that they can make good use of the skills learned in this training to realize their dream of employment and increasing their family income.

We would like to thank our sponsors for their support for this My First Job Tailoring Training for Women and the teachers for their care for these students.

Thank you to ZURU for underwriting the My First Job programs. Thank you also to SWIS and CAF America!

Our partners

  

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New Life

Combating human trafficking is a challenging and ever-changing mixture of prevention, interception, and rescue efforts. All parts of this horror come into place and can be reviewed in other project areas taken on by the Captivating team in Nepal.

When Belinda* (name change for privacy) was rescued, she was taken directly to the nearby hospital for a full medical check. During her medical check, it was found that she was 7 months pregnant.

During counselling with her, she revealed that she met up with a boy in a hotel. Not long after, she started to feel ill and her belly began to grow.

She wanted to find the boy so she travelled to India. However, it wasn't long when she was found lost and homeless by the police. In coordination with Indian police and Nepali police, she was brought home and referred to the Women’s Safe Haven.

She is safe now and the team at the Women’s Safe Haven are taking good care of her. She gave birth to a baby boy, Adrian (name changed for privacy), and both mother and baby are receiving very special care. She says that her baby has stolen her heart and helped her to overcome her painful days.

 

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Embroidery Training Update

One of our projects for My First Job program is Embroidery Skills Training.

90 women divided in 3 different classes were initally selected to participate in the training program to learn the fine art of embriodery. Out of these 90 women, 63 women participated in the mid term exam recently.  These women come from families who lack skills and do not have the opportunity and ability to find stable employment or jobs near their homes.

Just last week, these women took their Mid Term Exam. 14 women in Class 1, 25 students in Class 2, and 24 students in Class 3 participated in the exam.

Tibetan embroidery is an influential craft among the traditional embroidery genres of Qinghai ethnic minorities, and it is a part of the farming culture in Tibet.

Traditional Tibetan embroidery is mainly used for Tangka embroidery, temple scripture hall decoration, and national costume production. Under the detailed explanation and careful instruction of the teacher, all the students have mastered the basic skills and are looking forward to growing those skills to grasp more intricate embriodery and eventually gaining their first job through this training.

Between January to June 2022, we will implement a total of four MY FIRST JOB programs across Qinghai Province, bringing hope and opportunity to 120 women and their families. Our thanks to ZURU for underwriting our MFJ Program, as well as key financial support from GPA, CAF America, SWIS and all who purchased a MFJ plush toy at our Annual Shenzhen Charity Auction.

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Empowering Moms through Microfinance Program

Through our Microfinance Program in the Philippines, we are able to empower more mothers by helping them start their small businesses that can support their families. Here are just some of the beaming faces of the proud Filipina moms and their amazing business endeavors:

This is Angelica, a proud mother of four and wife to a farmer. She partners with her husband in their business of selling both unpolished and polished rice. When it is not harvest season, they maximize the land that they plow by planting onions, garlic, and other vegetables that are in season. This is to ensure that they have income all year round. When it is harvest season for rice, she is able to sell 100-125 kilos of rice every week. She is grateful to our field partner in the Philippines' support through HONOR 1000 that they are able to have enough capital to reach this point in their business. Not only her business, but her accomplishment is in having all of her children finish their studies. Through their income, they were also able to extend their house to have a bigger kitchen space.

Kristine started her small convenience store renting a little space. During the height of the pandemic when the local government was still restricting movement, her community relied on her store to buy their necessities and even ready made food. Because of this, even as the restrictions lifted, the relationship built with her customers made them regulars to her store. Through her hard work, her own store space was also completed. Her new space is just beside her rented store so her regulars can still find her store. By minimizing her expense, Kristine is determined to consistently save as her youngest is yet to start school. Her two older children just started elementary level and senior high respectively.

Before her small sari-sari store, Melannie earned by reselling products and electronic load. Because her products were not necessities, she was hit hard by the pandemic and had to transition her business to something more stable. With her only child also entering Senior High soon, she knows that this transition is necessary. She focused more on having a sari sari store. Through our teams help, she was able to put more stocks in her store. She also sells snacks and drinks, and recently purchased a burger griller. We will continue serving and empowering mothers like Melannie as they make bold decisions to ensure their children's future.

Help More Filipinos Break Away from the Cycle of Poverty

With your support of AU$385/US$270, we will be able to provide a Filipino mom with a small business loan. Click on the links below to know more.

Our Partners

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Sharing the Reality of OSEC in the Philippines

Our field partner, Honor 1000 partnered up with SPECS foundation to be able to reach 150 out of school children and their parents with our Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC) awareness campaign training.

The parents said they didn’t know how to guide their children in using the internet so the online safety tips were very helpful.

We shared online safety tips and talked about the horrible reality of OSEC in the Philippines. During the sessions, a number of children shared: 1.) strangers asking for their pictures online 2.) strangers  asking to meet up in person and 3.) being bullied online. All of them were given steps on what to do during and after the session.

  

 

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Educating One Student at a Time

It is the new school year in Nepal and our team in Nepal is back into the swing facilitating Hamro Abhiyan programs in schools.

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Paying it Forward

Our hearts swell with pride when we see our beneficiaries give back to their community. This is Achal*, she has spent some time at the Women's Safe Haven is now reintegrated back to the community. Today, she runs her own tailoring shop and is now teaching seven women in her shop.

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