“In the month of May last year, when Father Zucchi took our names,” explains Lourne Florestal about enrolling in Tzu Chi’s vocational sewing program. She says, “I thought it was for a job. After they told us it was for a class… [I] didn’t like it.”

Lourne is one of the women who was enrolled in the pilot vocational program in Port-au-Prince Haiti. It’s part of a work-for-relief initiative that empowers women with vocational skills for free to help them earn a better living. While she resisted initially, Lourne tells us that her confidence blossomed and she came around quickly: “the year I came here, I didn’t know how to sew, because I couldn’t pedal the sewing machine. But three days later, I tell the machine, ‘I’m in charge, not you!’”

Since then, Lourne has been attending classes and sewing non-stop. “She cares about her work,” says sewing teacher Lorcy Demorcy; “she wants to finish before everyone else… When she found this program it was as if God had sent her a gift from heaven.”

See what she means – and see the impact the program is having – in our latest video.Then, support our relief efforts around the world at donate.tzuchi.us

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