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-Arts & Crafts-
One of A.M.O.’s
most successful
programs is our
Arts & Crafts
class that
started in 2003 in
the favela Gleba
B in Campinas,
São Paulo. As
many of the
women here are
unemployed,
undereducated,
and many with
several little
children at home
they found it
difficult to
find a job.
Our idea
was to provide
training in a
practical skill
that the women
could use to
produce and sell
products,
working out of
their homes, as
a way of earning
some money. That
training is done
at our Family
Ministry Center
located right in
the middle of
their favela.
The classes have
been a blessing
in strengthening
their personal
relationships
with their
neighbors and in
the community in
general.
Local church
members
volunteer their
time to teach
fabric painting,
crochet, ribbon
work, and
macramé to the
women, who range
in age from
14-year-old
mothers to
elderly women.
Even the younger
girls have taken
an interest.
In 2003,
WorldCrafts,
Inc., (a
division of WMU) of
Birmingham,
Alabama, began
buying
dishtowels from
our ladies! A
total of 3,425
dishtowels were
ordered in that
year alone.
Since then many
more dishtowels
of various
designs have
been ordered.
The women make
the dishtowels,
we pack them up
and ship them to WorldCrafts, and
all of the money
made goes back
to the women.
With
their income one
woman paid off
her husband’s
debts and bought
a refrigerator,
another
purchased brick
to start
improving their
wooden shack,
and another used
her earnings to
take her two
small children
to another city
to meet their
grandmother for
the first time.
One woman used
her earnings to
purchase
supplies to take
with
her when
her family moved
back up north
where she
continued to
paint and sell
her dishtowels.
We received a
letter from her
afterwards
telling us that
, with her
savings, she was
able to buy a
plot of land.
This project has
made a
tremendous
impact in this
community! Our
goal is to
duplicate this
program in
various favelas
through out São
Paulo.
A.M.O.
does not profit
financially from
this program in
any way. To help
defer costs for
teaching
supplies and to
expand into new
programs in
other favelas
tax-deductible
donations to the
Arts & Crafts
program can be
made to:
click here
for more
information.
Click here
to visit
now!
Please note: We
are currently
training another
teacher to lead
these classes.
Therefore, we do
not have a
standing order
with WorldCrafts
at the moment.
Supplies may be
low.
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