“Sewing Machines” Project – sparkles.lu & Friendship partnership

2000 EUR financed in September 2015

This year, sparkles.lu succeeded to support 22 women in the tailoring business in Bangladesh. To make this action possible, sparkles.lu worked in partnership with a local microfinance institution (MFI), Friendship, which has a branch in Luxembourg. This MFI played a key role as it facilitated and curated the sparkles.lu loans. This first collaboration with Friendship is very special to us, as they focus on taking care of the poorest of the poor in the most remote and inaccessible regions of their country. Most of our 22 entrepreneurs live in the Kurigram district, where several rivers flow and make their lives vulnerable in the rainy season. Indeed, residents often have to recover from floods and life is very difficult for some of the concerned families, who sometimes only subsist on the basis of one meal a day. By setting up sewing centers, they enable people to learn new skills in their district. All 22 women supported by sparkles.lu received a thorough tailoring training, followed by an evaluation of their ability to sew different pieces of clothes. They are then fully qualified to receive a loan to buy their own sewing machine. This responsible approach makes the difference and this is why sparkles.lu decided to be involved in this adventure. The beneficiaries from our 2,000 EUR global loan hope to improve their income by selling clothes on the local markets. They will use their earnings to improve their living conditions and the ones of their family, but also to support their children’s education. Bilki, 24 years-old, is one of the youngest borrowers; she is the mother of one child and dreams to open her own shop on the market in a few years. Lizu, 30 years-old mother of one child, is married and her husband is in the farm labour. They do not have any cultivable land on their own, so it is very difficult for them to manage food for their family, which consists of 4 members. Thanks to her new sewing machine, Lizu will also start earning for her family. Rebeka got divorced two years ago. She and her two children were suffering as they had no source of income. Her brothers gave them shelter, but Rebeka did not want to live on the mercy of her brothers and was desperately looking for a self-employment opportunity. She requested a loan to buy sewing machine. She dreams of opening a tailoring shop in her house. Sparkles.lu is proud to be able to support these brave women and wishes them all the best for the future of their business. The future repayments will serve to finance the dreams of new entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. With the help of Friendship, we will do our best to report on the evolution of sparkles.lu’s involvement in Bangladesh.