Vocational Training Program

Peace-Links provides affordable vocational skills training to under-r-priveleged youth from across the country to enable them lead independent and productive lives and start businesses of their own. We provide training in tailoring/ sewing; gara dyeing/ batik; and business management. The eight-hour-a day five-days-a-week session lasts anywhere from two-six months depending on the course the student is enrolled in.

Students posing for the camera at the vocational center

Profile of the Students

Most of the students in the vocational training program are girls and young women (aged between 17-30). Many have few formal education. They have all being either directly or indirectly affected by the 11-year conflict. Irrespective of their terrible experiences and dire socio-economic conditions however, they are all held together by the common desire to succeed and to lead independent lifestyles.

Gara Dyeing

Students processing gara cloth

Gara Dyeing is a very popular socio-economic venture in Sierra Leone in general. Peace-Links has been teaching it since 2000 and in the process has trained more than 100 girls, many of whom have gone on to put the art to good economic use to support themselves and their families. Peace-Links course takes anything from two-six months, depending on the time the student has and the purpose for which they want to learn the art.

What exactly is gara-dyeing? Gara-dyeing, sometimes referred to as Batik, has a long history in Sierra Leone that dates back to the 1930s. It is a very intricate process that involves washing the fabric with soap and water, then immersing the cloth (a white fabric called Bryleon or cotton polyster poplin) in the dye for different periods of time (varying from hours to three or four days). The drying, dipping is repeated several times until the desired shade is obtained. After this the dyed fabric is washed, dried in the sun and ironed either traditionally by pounding with a stick on a wooden slab to produce a glossy shine on the cloth, or by using more than forms of ironing.

The end product are worn mainly for fashion and is very popular both in Sierra Leone as well as overseas, especially Europe and North America.

To learn more about the history and socio-economic importance of gara-dyeing please click here !

Tailoring

Students of the tailoring program in Freetown

What they are taught

Peace-Links tailoring program teaches students contemporary tailoring: how to cut and sew various pieces of cloth into shirts, pants, dress and other cloth items. The program lasts from six months to one year. During that time each student is provided with a sewing machine and other tools such as needles, threads, scissors etc.

The classes are divided into a morning and afternoon shift. This enables us to accommodate as many students as possible. The class sizes range from 10-20 students. They are taught measurement, styles and design, thread types and colors, managing client needs and expectations, etc.

Check out our personal stories page to hear from some of the students