The Training

Literacy

Each woman is given a simple test to determine her literacy. Based on her literacy level, we place her in a grouping with other women at her level. Women coming in at the most basic level are taught to write and recognize Bengali letters and how to write and sign their own name. More advanced women do basic reading and writing development. Additional literacy training is available after the official training period is over at the request of the woman.

Math

Each woman is taught basic math skills, both verbal and written, during the six-month training period. Each woman is taught basic addition and subtraction using real life situations of shopping and making bazaar purchases. More advanced women also learn multiplication and division. All the women are taught measurement as it applies to their sewing.

Mental health

Every week during training, all the women participate in an informal conversation about basic mental-health issues such as anger and forgiveness, self-esteem and personal value, worry and fear.

Budgeting

The women are given assistance in planning a budget and figuring out how to live on a monthly paycheck as opposed to their usual daily income. We talk about their expenses, their debts and their future goals to help them determine how they can make it all work.

Nutrition

The women are given basic nutritional education to help them make better choices for themselves and their families. We have a licensed dietician who teaches the class using hands-on applications that are easy for the women to identify.

Play

Many of the women who come to work at Sari Bari have had their childhood stolen from them, having been trafficked or tricked at ages as young as 12 years old. So we have built play into our training as a necessary tool for helping the women achieve healthy emotional development. We use play not only on its own, but also incorporate play into both math and literacy. We want learning to be fun!

Sewing

All of the women come in with basic hand-sewing skills, but we take these simple skills and train them how to make straight, even stitches and how to put together a sari blanket. We have recently incorporated machine sewing and hope to see many women trained on the machines to make bags and other items.