Carpet Weaving Workshop, Example Worth Following [Archives:2000/20/Last Page]

By Yasser M. Ahmed
Yemen Times
One of the staggering problems facing our country is that of a surplus of university graduates compared to available job opportunities. More than 50% of them could not find job opportunities, whether in state institutions or in the private sector. The private sector sets conditions too difficult for 80% of university graduates to meet. English language, computer, 5-year experience, etc., are most often conditions required by this sector. Such conditions constitute serious impediment for job seekers because university students’ education is mainly based on theoretical curricula and nothing or very little amount of practical training.
For these reasons, vocational education and professional apprenticeship is of great importance to help the unemployed train on handicrafts and thus help themselves and their families earn a decent living.
We have great shortage in the number of vocational training centers and institutes and only few charitable societies do run training courses on handicrafts to help families improve their living standards. One of the very few of such charitable societies is the Islah Charitable Society.
The Islah Charitable Society is a non-governmental organization that has taken the first initiative to open training courses, especially for orphans, on certain professions and crafts. It has begun from the capital and has expanded its project to several other governorates. It lays a keyrole in job opportunities to help the members of the society earn their living. The most recent of the society’s projects has been the Vocational Training Center for Carpet Weaving, the first of its kind in Yemen. It was started in 1998 after signing an agreement between the Society and the Social Fund for Development.
The center started its work by training 10 carpenters on how to make the looms used in hand weaving of carpets and rugs. Raw material was brought from Egypt and then registration began. Priority was given to orphans, the unemployed people, widows and divorcees to help them find a source of living. The first course started on October 17, 1999 and was concluded on April 17, 2000. The training course included 40 participants:
20 male and 20 female trainees. Graduates from the course were trained on carpet weaving and adorning them with pictures and drawings.
A number of studies on the profession of weaving were made during the course. In addition, there were various events as a part of the training package such as conducting competitions and arranging visits to historical and tourist sites to motivate students to reflect the images of such beauty-spots on their work.
As I examined the graduates’ works I was amply convinced that the course had been a great success.
All the graduates expressed their happiness and satisfaction over outcomes of the course and what they had learnt. Their works in fact show that Yemenis had the talent to create magnificent things if the necessary equipment is provided to them and they are given the requisite training.
It is really a pioneering step that deserves appreciation and encouragement from the people in general and authorities in particular. It is in fact a good example for other charitable and non-charitable societies to follow. Such projects could also be developed in future on a commercial basis. A certain portion of the proceeds could then benefit those employed at the project in addition to their wages.

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