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. 

“After my class, I want to open a restaurant to cook nice food—decent food—for people to come and eat,” Catherine B says.   

Catherine graduated from a catering course through the Empowering Women With Dignity project early in 2020. Before the class, she was already selling food dishes that she cooked herself. But she wasn’t earning enough to alleviate the burden of poverty for herself and her children, ages 19, 17, and 6. People from the church saw her, and they invited her to the class. 

The catering classes cover the basics of creating good, low-cost food that will sell well. Women learn how to use the supplies they have on hand, including water bottles and simple cooking tools. That way, there is a lower overhead cost and more take-home pay. The churches also offer a variety of additional workshops covering a range of business-related skills. Catherine is excited; each of these things will help her to earn more, she says. 

The classes also offer a strong community of encouragement and friendship. In a country where women feel less valued than men, the dignity-affirming community can be life-changing. 

“I want [my friends] to come so they can see for themselves, because when I came I see it’s helping my children and myself,” she shares. “So, I want them to come. All women—come and learn something for themselves.” 

Learn more about the Christmas Project here.

Learn more about the Empowering Women With Dignity courses here.