This is the story of Nadia al-Nawdah, a 32-year-old lady, who has changed her life because of an early divorce. Nadia was always interested in helping women that were poor because they lost their husband who was a breadwinner.
After her divorce, Nadia decided to focus on qualifying herself by joining courses that focused on how to establish a small business with a limited budget, with the aim of establishing an organization to support women.
For more than a decade, Nadia witnessed the impact of the war in Yemen for the lives of all people. Many families lost their male family members, which were often responsible for the household income.
Women became responsible for securing income and food for the household, as well as all other tasks women were responsible for.
In her efforts to equip herself with knowledge and skills to help these women, Nadia became a certified trainer for the British Council Springboard program.
In this program, women assess themselves, set goals and develop practical interpersonal skills and the self-confidence necessary to achieve success in their lives.
In 2016, Nadia felt ready to start her own foundation, called the Lana Foundation. She focused on training women with a low income on women empowerment and on starting a small business.
She wanted to help women get economically empowered. Given the situation of women, Nadia provided these trainings almost for free to women. In the first stage, she trained 25 women in different skills: making bakhbour, making accessories, sewing, first aid, photoshop and handicrafts.
Nadia wanted more than this, but financial resources stood in the way. She realized that support from international organizations would be the solution for her to reach more women. This is how she managed to reach over 250 women soon after. As she built safe spaces for women, she soon realized that child support programs would be a good addition to help women and children form local communities.
Before the start of the training, many women could not afford buying clothes for themselves or their children. Through these trainings and coaching sessions Nadia facilitated, many women found their way towards supporting themselves and their families. That is not the only result: Nadia is also happy to give women the opportunity to get schooling. Nadia sees the gratitude on their faces, which fills her with joy. Nadia finds helping women the most rewarding in her life.
Nadia’s message to Yemeni women is to keep going and continue regardless of all the challenges that you face. It is important that you keep moving and continue what you have started, even if the steps are smaller. Someday, you will have a well-known name in your community. For me, my training experience qualified me to get more opportunities. My message to all women is to keep moving and never stop, even if you stop for a while; do not lose your goal, resume and start over.
After her divorce, Nadia decided to focus on qualifying herself by joining courses that focused on how to establish a small business with a limited budget, with the aim of establishing an organization to support women.
For more than a decade, Nadia witnessed the impact of the war in Yemen for the lives of all people. Many families lost their male family members, which were often responsible for the household income.
Women became responsible for securing income and food for the household, as well as all other tasks women were responsible for.
In her efforts to equip herself with knowledge and skills to help these women, Nadia became a certified trainer for the British Council Springboard program.
In this program, women assess themselves, set goals and develop practical interpersonal skills and the self-confidence necessary to achieve success in their lives.
In 2016, Nadia felt ready to start her own foundation, called the Lana Foundation. She focused on training women with a low income on women empowerment and on starting a small business.
She wanted to help women get economically empowered. Given the situation of women, Nadia provided these trainings almost for free to women. In the first stage, she trained 25 women in different skills: making bakhbour, making accessories, sewing, first aid, photoshop and handicrafts.
Nadia wanted more than this, but financial resources stood in the way. She realized that support from international organizations would be the solution for her to reach more women. This is how she managed to reach over 250 women soon after. As she built safe spaces for women, she soon realized that child support programs would be a good addition to help women and children form local communities.
Before the start of the training, many women could not afford buying clothes for themselves or their children. Through these trainings and coaching sessions Nadia facilitated, many women found their way towards supporting themselves and their families. That is not the only result: Nadia is also happy to give women the opportunity to get schooling. Nadia sees the gratitude on their faces, which fills her with joy. Nadia finds helping women the most rewarding in her life.
Nadia’s message to Yemeni women is to keep going and continue regardless of all the challenges that you face. It is important that you keep moving and continue what you have started, even if the steps are smaller. Someday, you will have a well-known name in your community. For me, my training experience qualified me to get more opportunities. My message to all women is to keep moving and never stop, even if you stop for a while; do not lose your goal, resume and start over.