Ethiopia, Sewing Partners

Ethiopia 2017: New Partner, Solar Energy Foundation

Ethiopia #1 in New Jersey

A Solar Energy Foundation (SEF) group based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is one of our new 2017 Sewing Peace partners. Their new program is entitled “Marginalized Women’s Training on Sewing and Tailoring”. This Solar Energy Foundation project has the following goals:

  • To train marginalized women in sewing and tailoring to help them become economically self-sustaining.
  • To rehabilitate marginalized women by creating an enabling environment for self-employment using their sewing and tailoring skills.
  • To help and support women economically, socially, and morally.
  • To contribute to the development of marginalized women and support their dreams for a better future.



Ethiopia #1 in Ethiopia

With the generous help of the Clif Bar Family Foundation and the Jack & Pauline Freeman Foundation, we shipped the sewing machines in March, 2017. At that time we published this post on Ethiopia #1. We were then in a bewildering bureaucratic nightmare with the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority concerning what information they needed on each machine. The nightmare is over and we are happy to report that the machines have been delivered to our partner. (We’ve just gotten a report from Samson Tsegaye, the program director.)

The sewing and tailoring training will be held in Rema, one of the SEF training centers, located in the Mida Woremo district of North Shewa Zone, about 230km from Addis Ababa. The training is held in three three-month cycles starting in June 2017. Each session will include 20–25 trainees.

The trainees will be nominated from the North Shewa zone in partnership with the zonal education and women affairs office. Approximately seventy women will be the beneficiaries of this program. Those who successfully complete the training will be supplied with one sewing machine whereby they can begin their own business.

The training program covers the women’s travel cost as well as providing a daily allowance for basic needs such as food while they are in the training program.

We will report back when we have some results from the program.

Here is the full proposal for the program.