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Although initiated at the same time, each of
these productions, has developed in their own
way and reached its own development peak.
At the beginning economic empowerment
programs had a strong psychosocial background
with the guiding idea to support coping
mechanisms of these women, helping them to fight
depression. As time went by, psycho-social
support gave way to initiating income generating
activities, as economic insecurity become their
main concern.
Confronting the labor market was not easy for
these women: they were refugees who did not have
high level of education, many of them coming
from rural areas. They were successful farmers,
housekeepers or employed in their places of
birth, but the dislocation to Belgrade and its
surroundings meant a serious change and
challenge which they could not handle by
themselves.
The idea was to tap in their own resources and
knowledge's: to support them in areas which were
close to their experience and interests. The
choice was made by women themselves since they
have shown the most interest in working in
textile and in producing winter foods, cookies,
etc. a ground they felt familiar and skilled.
Three income generation programs have been born
and are active ever since: catering service,
textile workshop and winter food production. |
