OF BLESSINGS AND LIFE SKILLS

Due to our quest to help people find some forms of new skills and new way to “earning and saving” for the family, as Dominican missionaries, are happy to find some sources for this purpose. So, in the month of June 2020, we were fortunate to receive a blessed chance to give a response to young girls to develop some skills. It is a way to prepare them for a brighter future and encourage them to share the things they learned to other groups of women in the future, a kind of “pay it forward” attitude to develop in communities. Thus, a “Life Skills Training Program” was realized with a bunch of young ladies from the orphanage, 2 representatives from the community of Bidau, our aspirants and postulants.

 

The training consisted of three parts, where they learned cooking making use of what is common in East Timor, like making sweet potato jam, tamarind candies and juice, turmeric juice, tomato and banana catsup, etc., The second part is cosmetology, where in the girls are interested so much as their age is on it. They learned how to make face scrub, coffee for the hair, foot spa, hair cutting and dressing, etc. The third is foot massage and reflexology. Through this training, they were taught on how to make eucalyptus oil, turmeric oil, lemongrass oil, etc.,

At the end of the training each were given a certificate of completion. Besides, there was a display of the different products they made, too. This training was made possible through the help of our friend (a Dominican priest) and his parishioners from Canada.

We planned to have another Life Skills Training in October because many women in the community have asked for it. It is a fitting skill to enable them to augment their income and livelihood for many.  We also see these activities as a way to gather them to make them feel a community, thru which a good way to be with them for sharing and to integrate moral, spiritual, and religious values in conversations and work times especially with the youth.

Sister Belen S. Evangelista

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