We are setting up villages with a micro-enterprise of sewing. The ladies are taught to sew to earn a living.

Some of the ladies sew uniforms for school, some make denim purses and some take in sewing for their community. Here is one example of a sewing micro enterprise we have developed.

 Briana, Amber, and Lishawn are being put through school by their mother's sewing. We bring used jeans to them, and a group of 5 people convert these into denim purses. They cut off the legs, sew the bottom up, put beads on them, embroidery them, add lining, and ribbon. These are sold to the tourists at the tourist village. Over 1 million tourists visit Belize each year, mostly by cruise ship. We hope to sell 5000 of these each year. These purses are also being sold at Altun Ha, a Mayan ruin.

So if 5 people make 4 purses a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year that is 5000 purses. That is $250,000 in a year. The church would get $25,000, each seamstress would get $25,000, the sales person would get $50,000, and there would be money for getting better equipment, and paying all the expenses. And they would be doing this business themselves! Not hand outs, not dependency. They could support their families, give women opportunities, and put a lot of money in the community. The church would be able to pay a pastor, and do ministries. And this would be all Belizean. The money would be in their country.

The women are being taught that the better quality job they do on each purse will determine how much it can sell for. The more they do, the better they will get. They are very creative and artistic. They show each other their work and share decorating ideas. As they make more and more purses their sewing skill level also increases.

How can you help?

• Buy a purse.
•  Donate jeans or knakis
• Donate a sewing machine that is in good working order.
• Donate decorations, heavy duty needles, ribbons, fabric, etc.
• If you are skilled in sewing, come spend a few days working alongside of them. We guarantee you will be the one blessed.

Thriftsmart supplies most of our jeans for use in this project. If you donate there, it gives them more jeans to donate to us.  Please email info@thebelizeproject.org to find out how to donate your items for this micro enterprise.