On February 11th, 28 survivors participated in a life skills session with Archana and Nitendri, Freedom Firm social workers. Our restoration program helps survivors develop a variety of skills for the real world, and this session in Madhya Pradesh focused on two.
1. Communication Skills
The girls discussed ways to become more effective communicators. Archana encouraged the girls to first observe and understand the situations around them before talking or sharing their opinions. They discussed how communication takes place through spoken, written oral, written and non-verbal communication skills.
2. Sewing
The girls have been learning basic sewing skills with Nintendri. During this session, they practiced taking measurements. Nitendri brought a cardboard cut-out with different body measurements that would be necessary for making a blouse and kurtha (a loose collarless shirt popular in India).
Then the girls passed a measuring tape around and took each other’s measurements. They wrote down the measurements, just like a professional tailor. They can’t wait for the next session when they will learn to cut – first on newspaper, then fabric!