Many women have skills and creative talents that need to be polished and developed. However, harsh living conditions force most women to take up the responsibility of providing for the daily needs of their households - such as fetching water to their homes, as is the case with Qibool Saeed.

This 65-year-old women lives in the village of al-Sharaf, of Nashamah area of Ma’afer District in the Governorate of Taiz. She is still having better energy and vitality than most women much younger than her. She has long experience in birthing as a midwife, as she follows pregnancies and help women give birth in her village and nearby villages, as well. Based on her experience, she knows when to advice certain case of pregnancies to go to hospitals for C-section delivery – especially when she finds that natural delivery is not possible.

Qibool is interested to learn other skills and has different abilities. She wanted to do tailoring and sewing of women clothing, and was also interested in learning first aid. However, she was unable to have the training needed for both skills because her time was mostly taken up by other chores, such as fetching water to her home and other daily chores. Living far away from the water source, fetching water consumed most of her time.

A successful Intervention

The intervention by the Public Works Project, PWP, in Qibool’s area left a profound impact on addressing the water problem. PWP constructed a stone water reservoir with a capacity for collecting 200 cubic meters of water. It also built a water supply pipe system in al-Sharaf village connecting homes of the village. Availability of water, for Qibool, meant she can now enroll in first aid and sewing training. She will obtain certificates on these two skills, and thus Qibool has been able to improve her experience, capacity, and skills in birthing by giving injections, installing iv bottles, measuring blood pressure and drawing blood samples for testing during pregnancies and delivery.

She is now able to fashion and tailor women clothing of all types, becoming a productive woman in her area and working to meet demands for women clothing in her village and nearby villages. Having the time to learn new skills, Qibool has improved her income and the quality of life for her entire family.