Sudara Stories: Yamma

The Sudara Stories series highlights a few of the strong, amazing women who are a part of a skills-training program at one of our partner sewing centers. Today, we are honored to introduce Yamma.

 

Yamma’s Story of Hope and Freedom

Yamma’s husband lost his job several years ago. Thankfully, his employer provided a severance package that allowed them to have enough money to live on for a few months and give him time to search for a new job.  After several months of searching, though, he still didn’t have a job.  Yamma was becoming more and more concerned. She knew that they had very little savings and would soon no longer have enough money to keep their children in school.

A friend of Yamma’s heard about their financial struggles and introduced her to one of Sudara partner centers. She knew they offered skills-training and hoped that Yamma could benefit from one of their programs. Five months later, Yamma graduated in cosmetology and received a micro-loan to start her own business. She and her husband combined that loan with their remaining savings and opened up a salon in a nearby town.

She recently returned to our partner center to say hello, tell us about her new business and tell us how thankful she is for the training and opportunity. She told us that she was especially thankful for the tips she received on starting and sustaining a small business as it has allowed her to not only feed her family but no longer worry about if they will have enough money to send their children to school.

Thank you for continuing to invest in and empower women like Yamma to create a new life for herself. You can read more Sudara Stories here.