The Canadian Red Cross is one of the leading charity organizations in Canada, working to provide aid during times of emergency to those in need in Canada and worldwide. Canadian Red Cross programs and services provide humanitarian assistance like food, shelter, clothing, family reunification, medical care and education.
Women's Training and Integration Program's history of success in Liberia
The Women's Training and Integration Program (WIN) was organized by the Liberian National Red Cross Society and supports women who are living in poverty and at risk due to inequality and cultural barriers.
Since 2009, WIN has helped 400 young women from urban and rural Liberia learn basic literacy and numeracy, while providing them with the means to gain skills in catering, tailoring or cosmetology, as well as basic business training. WIN participants also receive psychosocial counseling, which can be essential for helping them overcome challenges. More than a decade of civil strife in Liberia has left many women in need of this support, and it is helping them to regain their self-esteem and be able to get back and contribute to their community.
After graduating from the program, each WIN participant gets a toolkit to help start a small business, and the Liberian National Red Cross Society continues to monitor and support each person for a full year.
Recently, a new group of 150 beneficiaries graduated from WIN, thanks in part to the Spanish Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies and funding from the Sisters of St. Joseph of London, Ontario. The Canadian Red Cross and its affiliates provide an essential layer of support for women across the world.
Sia Kollie's story
One of the success stories to come out of WIN is Sia Kollie's, a Liberian woman who overcame the challenges of her earlier life and with the program's help transformed herself into a resilient and self-sufficient woman.
When Kollie was 19, she was captured by rebels. Her confinement lasted two years and left her shaken and vulnerable.
After the war, Kollie traveled to Monrovia, the capital city, in an attempt to restart her life. In 2010, Kollie was living on the streets with other Liberian women when a group of Red Cross volunteers reached out to them, inviting the women to join WIN. She spent seven months in psychosocial counseling and some time receiving treatment in a local hospital. Following this, Kollie and the other women in the program attended nine months of literacy training, where they learned to read and write. Then several of the women, including Kollie , went on to study tailoring. In 2011, Kollie and two women she met through WIN, Josephine and Winnifred, decided to manage a shop together.
The women's start-up kits had included sewing machines, and they received a contract from the local Liberian community to sew new school uniforms each year. Kollie and her partners say they love the job, since it lets them provide for their families. This is especially important as their husbands are unable to secure work, and the women are the sole providers in their families. They're already passing their trade down to their children, and the women hope to eventually buy a shop.
WIN helped Kollie and her partners build the self-esteem and strength to overcome their difficult pasts and create new roles for themselves as role models in their community. As women empowered through the Red Cross, they've shown others that self-sufficiency is a means to break the cycle of poverty.
"We encourage our friends to join the program. Many of them are still on the street, they do nothing all day and cannot feed their children," said Josephine.
The Red Cross in action
You can help individuals like Kollie by showing your support for the Canadian Red Cross today. Just donate online or at your local Red Cross office. Each contribution can help someone like Kollie gain the skills needed to have a better life.