In a country with high poverty rates and where securing gainful employment is an ever-present challenge, women in low-income neighborhoods in Jalisco, Mexico face daily struggles in leading healthy, full lives. It is widely recognized that women are the foundation of any community and if they are empowered, their families, and eventually an entire community will also be empowered. 

Classes are conducted in the auditorium	Students take their courses very seriously

PRAC’s skills training program for underprivileged women seeks to break the vicious cycle of poverty by empowering them with vocational skills and basic tools needed to gain financial independence and improve the quality of life for their families.

Grateful mothers eager to learn new skills	Aprons are easy to make and sell

The program currently offers a two-year tailoring course, held at PRAC’s large auditorium. Participants receive weekly hands-on training in basic and advanced tailoring skills from professional seamstresses, with the goal being to not only create and repair clothing for their own families' use, but to also market their products and services locally, a tailoring micro-enterprise.

The mothers learn how to make stuffed animal toys	Toys being created for kids who eat at the Comedor

During the training sessions, the students work on new sewing machines, which are donated to PRAC. After completing the course, each woman will be able to keep this new sewing machine as a tool for self-employment.

New sewing machines are sponsored for each student	Professional seamstresses teach the weekly classes

The women benefitting from the program are all unemployed and for the most part have had minimal education. Only a few have completed primary-level education and many read with some difficulty. PRAC aims to not only improve their economic situations through vocational training, but in many cases also help them regain their self-worth and personal dignity.