Nabila* is an 18-year-old villager girl who lives in a mud house without any facilities. She has 6 sisters, but her parents have always considered them a burden.
In Pakistan, a woman’s parents are expected to pay her groom’s family a significant dowry. Three of her sisters are already married, and her parents arranged their dowry with great difficulty.
However, her sisters are not happy in their husbands’ houses as the husbands’ families continue to demand more dowry. Nabila told us that her parents are already in great debt.
While Nabila wants to become a teacher, her parents do not have enough resources for her to pursue her dream. Seeing her parents’ debt and her married sister’s condition, Nabila decided to learn sewing skills as a way to earn income.
She hopes that one day she will earn money not only for herself but for her family, too. She is very grateful to RAM for her enrollment.
Unfortunately, the dowry system in Pakistan leads to daughters being viewed as financial burdens. Parents often sell girls into domestic servitude, prostitution, and forced marriages.
Going into debt to pay a dowry is also a driving force behind families taking out loans from brick kiln factory owners.
However, at our vocational training program, women and girls are offered a safe place to learn an in-demand and marketable skill, basic good business practices, and become educated on their rights as women under the law.
Would you like to support our sewing classes? Just $25 sponsors one month of tuition for a student! You can also sponsor a sewing machine for $90.
Learn more by visiting our gift program here.
*Name changed for security purposes.
SUGRA’S STORY | BURN VICTIM
This story is how we helped Sugra. In villages here, people use cow dung as a fuel to cook food. One day Sugra was failing miserably to start a fire. She tried using gasoline and suddenly the fire spread to her clothes. Sugra was shocked and did not understand what to...
SAJJAL’S STORY | Flood Relief Project
Extreme monsoon flooding wreaked havoc on Pakistan this summer, destroying lives and livelihoods. Sajjal is a church elder who lives in interior Sindh in a small goth, which means village in Sindhi. One day during our relief efforts, he told us the story of the...
Supporting young christians with disabilities in Pakistan
Ariela, Lian, Daud, Emmanuel, and Sehrish are young Pakistani Christians that experience a disability, a physical illness, or have a special need for education funding. Siblings Ariela and Lian (pictured on the bottom) both suffer from celiac disease, which causes a...
