A group of Filipino wives of British expats, who have banded as “Skills3,” have started giving the wards at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) training on the basics of sewing and knitting, with the help of other expats wives, volunteers from the group called The Knitting Amirahs of Dubai, and their corporate sponsor, Nissan Gulf FZCO.
“Skills 3 is a social enterprise which devices programs to teach women the crafts of sewing and knitting with the objective of restoring their dignity and giving the purpose. It is also for social impact. The idea is to teach women so they can teach other women as well,” said Carla Bygrave, one of the founders of Skills3.
“We have done some work in refugee camps in Kurdistan and Turkey. We are based in Dubai so we thought we’d do something similar because there are so many misplaced community members and women-led initiatives like this might be ideal for POLO Dubai.”
Nissan Gulf FZCO provided the trainees with new equipment. The other sewing and knitting materials were provided for by other volunteers. The trainees will be allowed to sell their finished products to interested buyers after the training which will run until the supply of materials last.
“During Ramadan we like to take part in lots of CSR event. We feel that in able for people to have a skill, we’d give something that they could use for upscaling rather than just give them money. This is something that they could use to improve their skills for their future lives or when they get back to the Philippines, it’s a huge bonus for themselves,” Sophie Hoult, HR Business Partner at Nissan Gulf FZCO. (GC)
