Sewing class teaching newly-arrived Afghan women more than just sewing

A class for Afghan women starting new lives in Calgary is using sewing machines to help them craft a fresh start in a new country.

The women fled violence in their home country after the Taliban returned to power there in 2021.

The federal government has brought more than 30,000 vulnerable Afghans to Canada, with many now settling and starting new lives in cities like Calgary.

Many are family members of former interpreters and others who helped Canada's mission in that country, making it unsafe for them to stay once the Taliban regained power. Others include persecuted and religious minorities.

The Centre for Newcomers program, launched in February, was designed to tackle some of the biggest obstacles in making a new start, particularly for women: finding work, learning English, making friends and forming new support networks to benefit mental health.

"The idea is to bring these women together so they can break isolation and enhance chances of socialization," said Shamaila Akram, director of vulnerable population services at the centre.

The women huddle around sewing machines, measuring and cutting fabric and solving problems together inside a training room at the agency's busy northeast offices.

"They can meet, they can have conversations, but sewing is also an employment opportunity, teaching them skills for opening a small business or finding jobs," she said.

"They start by learning how the machines work, how to thread the needle, and then they move to more complex skills so they'll be ready to work in boutiques or something like that," she said.

Akram says the classes are also about helping the women to reclaim their resilience and confidence, often lost in the trauma of their past experiences in Afghanistan.

Most of the women in the two classes have been in Canada for only six months.

Akram says they also learn about financial management and health issues, and hear from guest speakers who visit the classes.

"We decided to create a platform where they feel comfortable, belong to their own culture, to gain the trust of the community," said Akram. 

"It enhances their self-esteem and that sense of relaxation around people who've been through the same issues and experienced the same barriers. It has huge mental health effects," she said.

Akram says putting the focus on sewing machines and tasks instead of their day-to-day problems is also meditative and offers a temporary escape from the pressures of family life as a newcomer.

"It's a mindful exercise and at the same time it gives them a feeling of worth," she said.

"I like the class. I speak in English," said newcomer Shakila Haidira, who, like most of the women in the class, speaks only a few words of English. "I've been in Canada for one year."

Akram says the class, which takes place every Friday, had to be expanded to meet the demand.

She says there's a wait-list now to get into the program.