Progress and Impact Assessment Report The MEDINA project seeks to assist the people of Shibam and Zabid in acquiring new skills that will improve living conditions in a number of areas. Ideally, these skills would initially assist individuals with producing useful services and household items for personal use. However, once these skills have been perfected, they can be used to supply goods and services to the worker's community, and, eventually, a broader market.

The key candidates for such training are women; particularly, women who reside in poor households. They cannot work outside the home, have limited marketable skills, and often live far from markets. Women living in rural areas cannot easily travel to city markets, and thus must rely on their husbands for information and necessary purchases. Illiteracy also restricts them in their dealings with the outside world which can include possible business dealings. Women are also not allowed to participate in certain activities, including training, unless permitted by their husbands. From this information, a hypothesis, upon which the project is based, was formulated.

Hypothesis

Women living in poor households from Shibam and Zabid who are allowed to undergo specific job and skills training will subsequently have the ability to raise their family's standard of living.

Potential Activities

The following activities represent types of training options that have been effective; based on similar projects elsewhere in the region. The assumption is that they will be effective for this phase of the project based on the data provided with each activity. None have yet been verified in terms of local demand or need, but there is data to suggest that such programs would succeed. Rather than establishing a broader program up-front, through a formal workshop, it is recommended to establish the Quality of Life Program in small steps. This means that MEDINA will assist small groups of women, based on their informal request for training. Possible activities include the following:

Sewing...

This training has a nominal cost of YR 763,500, and will initially be tailored to a specific interest; that of making traditional Abaya and school uniforms.
Embroidery Courses: It is clear, that traditional dress requires embroidery, and traditional embroidery skills remain in demand.

Weaving: Weaving of male loincloth remains an active male occupation, and markets remain full with such cloth, apparently all produced locally by hand. This cloth is not exclusively produced by men.

Computer Literacy Training: There often is a high demand for computer literacy training among both men and women.

Hairdressing training: recently the skill of hairdressing is increasing exponentially. Women in both cities are demanding the service especially during the wedding season. It is a profitable activity that does not require big investment.

Wood working and renovation: this is a very important activity that is implemented by the Handicraft association of Shibam. The association has implemented many wood renovations in Shibam and outside Shibam. The association requires more training for new members in order to cope with the increasing demand for the service.

Silverware training: Two Zabidi associations are specialized in silverware training and production; although they are in the business for a long time, they still need more training especially in product development and production.

Microfinance projects: Microfinance is often defined as financial services for poor and low-income clients offered by different types of service providers. In practice, the term is often used more narrowly to refer to loans and other services from providers that identify themselves as microfinance institutions (MFIs). These institutions commonly tend to use new methods developed over the last 30 years to deliver very small loans to unsalaried borrowers, taking little or no…