ONGOING PROJECTS:
WEAVING TRAINING CENTER
Objective: To promote and preserve the age-old traditional art of weaving. To impart the weaving skills to rural women in order to supplement their family income and to impart Non-formal Education to the trainees to improve their literacy level.
With the objective of promoting and preserving the traditional weaving skills NWAB, in 1984 received assistance from the Royal Government of Bhutan for the establishment of the Weaving Training Centre.
UNICEF supported the payment of monthly stipends for the trainee’s from1992 to December 2001. The Austrian Coordination Bureau supports the stipends of the trainees from 2002- 2008. We need to explore for donors from 2008 to support the stipends of the trainees. A two storied building hostel for the trainees and a separate kitchen with dining hall and toilet with attached bathroom was constructed under the grant from DANIDA in 1999-2000.
The Weaving Training Centre was established in the year 1984 at Pema Gatshel by the National Women’s Association of Bhutan to train Rural Women for duration of one year with the following objectives.
- To train the poorest of the poor women
- To train the school drop out girls, whose parent could not afford for further studies
- To preserve the age old tradition weaving
- To improve the living standard of poor people
- To influence the girls to stay at their village
The center was handed over to NHDC Khaling in July 1991 by NWAB, Thimphu. The centre, however, had to be shifted to NHDC, Khaling by end of October 1998 due to damage of the centre building as a result of heavy rainfall at Pema Gatshel.
The centre has a capacity of 30 trainees for long term training (one year) and refresher course to ten weavers monthly on a rotational basis for six eastern dzongkhags. However, the dzongkhags usually selects the trainees based on the criteria framed by NWAB, Thimphu. The trainee’s are paid a stipend of Nu. 1000 per month besides free accommodation.
On completion of the training, the centre provides loan facilities as their revolving capital. It is up to the women to go with other private organization to weave for them or go to their respective village with loan (Revolving Capital) to set up their own business and the centre buys back the product from the trainees provided they meet the quality design and sizes etc of the centre.
Certificates being awarded upon successful completion of the training course
Trainees trained in Pema Gatshel and Khaling ever since Weaving Training Centre Started:
Trainess trained in Pema Gatshel 1985-1998: 379 Trainees (1st – 12th Batch)
Trainess trained in Khaling 1999-2001 : 79 Trainees (13th – 15th Batch)
-do- 2002 : 16 Trainees (16th Batch)
-do- 2003 : 19 Trainees (17th Batch)
-do- 2004 : 24 Trainees ( 18th Batch)
-do- 2005 : 25 Trainees (19th Batch)
Total 517 trainees trained in the past twenty years and at present we have 25 trainees at the Centre.
The Royal Government of Bhutan funded the Weaving Training Centre in 1984. Upon completion of the training, some trainees join the private sector and the rest go back to their villages. The Centre also encourages the trained weavers to avail the start up micro credit facility available with the Centre. With such credit facility, the weavers could immediately start their own production and sell the finished products back to the Centre. This mechanism has been quite successful as many trained weavers so far have availed the credit facility and have established their own micro production units.
The National Women’s Association of Bhutan has made a request for the continuation of this assistance for providing training to the rural women from six eastern Dzongkhags. This intervention directly benefits the rural women and has a positive impact in augmenting the income of rural women besides conserving the age old tradition of weaving. The trainees also have the opportunity to participate in the non-formal education scheme available at the Centre which helps increase literacy rates among rural women.
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