Monrovia – Twenty-nine women on Saturday, June 2, walked out of the walls of the Annie T. Doe Memorial Foundation (ATDMF) having acquired six months of intensive tailoring skills training.
The women, all dressed in a beautiful suit of different designs made by themselves for the day, sang praises to God and thanked Mrs. Saya Doe-Sio, founder and chairman of ATDMF for the opportunities.
In her special remarks, Mrs. Doe-Sio said, “After six months of intensive training, hard work and dedication, you are the second graduates of the Annie T. Doe Memorial Foundation Sewing Program. We pray that this creates huge empowerment opportunities for you and your families. Our hope is to extend similar opportunities to more girls and women, providing each with requisite tools and skills needed to become independent individuals and/or successful entrepreneurs.”
She further stated that empowering a woman is the most essential tool to rebuilding a nation.
In her special statement, Ms Esther Metzger, president of the class, stated that back in the day, everyone said women should be home and just taking care of things home while the men were out there working to cater for the homes.
“When a woman is home and doing nothing, her husband looks down on her,” she said, adding: “We want to thank Madam Saya Doe Sio, who has made us very proud today. We can use our skills to make money for ourselves and help our husbands in the home.”
Ms. Metzger told her fellow graduates that their friendship was not after graduation but they should continue to talk to each other and make better use of the knowledge they have acquired.
Mr John B. S. Davis, President of the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) served as the keynote speaker.
“Today the perception that a woman’s place is in the history is long over. We are very happy that as a part of the Annie T. Doe Memorial Foundation is women’s empowerment. No man wants a woman, who thinks her place is only in the kitchen,” Mr. Davis stated as he received applauds from the audience, who included family members and well-wishers of the graduates.
To the graduates, he told them that they have acquired skills that they can use to make their lives better; adding: “Be the best in all you want to be in this seamstress profession.”
Mr. Davis, who is also the President of the Liberia Bankers Association, jokingly told the graduates that as he looked among the sewn pieces on display, he regrettably didn’t see any piece sewn for men.
However, there was only a single men’s trouser on display among the many pieces.
He urged the ATDMF administration to seek business partnerships with companies so that the graduates can be more empowered.
“When these women start to make money for themselves, the younger girls out there would be encouraged to leave the streets and come to join the program, too,” he added.
He urged the institute’s administration to also consider adding within their curriculum business skills program.
Mr. Davis told them to recruit a trainer for that aspect of the program. In the meantime, he and his friend, who had travelled with him, pledged US$1000 for a start-up for that program and added that when arrangements are put in place for it, they will see what they can do for the upkeep of the program.
This second training session, which ran for 6 months intensively, started with 30 students, one dropped and 29 were certificated.
The only requirement for women wanting to attend is to just walk in and express their desires. They don’t pay a cent and all training materials are provided by the institution.
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