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Women's skills training in Aceh
09 March 2009
Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA has been working in Aceh since the 2004 earthquake and tsunami. Over the last three years, a huge amount has been achieved by our project partners in the region, particularly in the area of vocational skills training and income-generation.
A program participant inspecting the group’s organic fertiliser
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Projects have included building a vocational training centre for women affected by the tsunami and the conflict in Aceh, training hundreds of women and men in a wide range of vocational skills, and developing sustainable income-generating collectives.
In the last year the Aceh team has been busy working with our local partners to implement projects funded by Progetto Sviluppo (the Italian labour movement's development organisation) along the west coast of Aceh. The women and men who participate in the training activities learn skills such as bread making, organic fertiliser production, how to make traditional Acehnese wedding decorations, tailoring and embroidery, sewing machine maintenance and repair and motorbike repair. They also learn about training methodology so that they can pass these skills on to other people in their communities. The training participants learn about community development and small business management with the aim of developing more sustainable project activities. This project will continue through until the end of 2008.
In the second half of 2008, Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA continued to work at the vocational training centre in Meulaboh, West Aceh, built last year with assistance from Volkshilfe, the Austrian trade union movement's overseas aid arm. Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA's local partner, An-Nisa, manages the training centre and runs the training courses. An-Nisa runs a number of activities to make the centre sustainable in the long term, such as catering training, establishing a catering business as a source of income for the training centre, setting up a showroom for promoting the products produced by women assisted by the project, and developing a market garden on the grounds of the training centre.
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