Employment
The biggest change in peoples thinking and circumstances comes when you give someone a job. It restores dignity and self-esteem, it enables a family to put food on the table, provide clothing for their children and firewood for the winter and will enable a family to begin to plan ahead, and dream of the future for themselves and for their children.
We have found that when the Employment component is added to Education and Empowerment programs and they begin to work together then change seems possible.
Many of the people we know are strong and able to work, but no-one in their family has ever had a job. Lack of education or lack of proper papers (identity cards) can make it impossible to get work. It is easy to understand why people have become discouraged and lack the hope of finding employment.
We can help people to begin their own small business, and run our own micro-enterprises to help create work within a community.
Vineyards
Siria is traditionally an agricultural region and sitting in the foothills of the Zarand Mountain range has been home to growing grapes and making wines for many years. The hillsides above and around Siria are full of vineyards, many of which have until recently been left unworked and abandoned. We work around 5 hectares of vineyard which provides seasonal work for families within the community.
Local Entrepreneurs
If a family within our garden program demonstrates a passion for growing their own food then they can apply to join our market garden program. We can lend polytunnel greenhouses to families to enable them to produce their own crops for market and we provide support and training for as long as needed. We have families raising flowers, pigs. We have helped someone begin a smal photographic business and recently helped a family experimenting with saffron.
DECE Clothing
DECE is the registered Trade Mark of our wholly-owned trading company. “Dece” means “Why?”. Our product range includes sewn and hand crocheted and hand-knitted hats, scarves, gloves, bags, etc. and a range of hand made leather goods which are currently sold in Sweden, the U.K., France, and the U.S.A.
Over the last couple of years we have begun manufacturing for other companies in Sweden, the USA, Hong Kong, and Romania.
