In Liberia, women and girls can have a hard path to walk. The country has a high rate of gender inequality, which means that women and girls are vulnerable to gender-based violence, child marriage, and teenage pregnancy, all of which extend the cycle of poverty generation after generation. 

This year’s NCM Christmas Project supports those who are trying to change those facts. 

Through the Empowering Women With Dignity project, women and girls attend vocational classes hosted at Nazarene churches. The students are given opportunities to improve their economic conditions as they learn how to create goods to sell and run a small business, but equally as important is the chance for their God-given dignity to be affirmed and celebrated. 

The women who participate in the vocational classes offered through the Empowering Women With Dignity project dream of becoming somebody themselves, but they also dream of lifting up other women who are vulnerable and living in poverty. 

Nathalin is one of those women. Years ago, she met someone who used their sewing ability as a gift to others, making sure they were treated with kindness when they came to the business. Since then, Nathalin has dreamed of learning to sew. Now, after spending a year and a half in a tailoring class, she has realized that dream. She graduated in March 2020. 

“Today, I can help myself, and I’m able to be someone in society that can help others,” Nathalin says. 

The project itself was began with women who wanted to help other women, the same way Nathalin wants others to experience the empowerment and fellowship she experienced. Through the project, skills like tailoring enable vulnerable women to provide for their families, experience dignity and confidence, and live as valued and respected contributors within their families and communities. 

“Because of the program, I am able to help my family,” Nathalin explains. “I can sew for my family, my friends, and community people. … I feel so amazing to be a graduate from this tailoring school.” 

Learn more about the Christmas Project here.

Learn more about the Empowering Women With Dignity courses here.