Yasindia is 19 years old, she is married, she is not a mother yet, she attended primary and secondary school in Special Education; Later, at the Pedro Téllez Polytechnic Institute she trained in Food Processing, she never practiced it; She is currently receiving training as a manicure at the headquarters of the municipal secretariat of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) in Pinar del Río.
“I’m doing well in this course, I like what I do, I’m learning to put on (false) nails, I have to wait to start, because you have to know how to do it well.”
Until now, her financial needs are met by her husband, to which she hopes to contribute when she begins to practice the trade, which is ideal for staying at home and taking care of her health, since this young black woman suffers from sickle cell anemia. better known as sickleemia, a term derived from the English definition (sickle cell anemia).
OTHER STORIES
Yislién has a degree in Stomatology, a specialist in Periodontology, and although she has not abandoned her profession, the conditions for its full development do not exist either; So she chose to learn another trade that would allow her to “improve the economy in these difficult times, moonlighting is approved and I can do it when I get home.” Also married and without children, she recognizes that the course is very useful and its teachings great worth.
Yesenia, who works as a manicurist, thinks the same, but she did not know how to apply acrylic nails, a treatment that is in high demand, and she needs to incorporate this service to expand her clientele and monetary benefits. She has been married for five years, she is not a mother, but she is responsible for caring for a niece.
The first of these women came to the course at the suggestion of officials from the Cuban Association of the Handicapped and Handicapped (Aclifim), the other two approached the FMC on their own in search of guidance, there they found the answers, but They are not the only ones who benefit from this possibility, there are women who receive training in cutting and sewing, and a group of both sexes in hairdressing.
Narmina Reynoso Marín, municipal secretary of the FMC in Pinar del Río, explains that this training program is one of the organization’s priorities, it contributes to economic emancipation and incorporation into employment, as well as to the transformation of the social environment. The delivery of a manicure kit is one of the alternatives offered to women in vulnerable conditions so that they can generate their own income.
The courses are designed in three months, but given that in many cases they lack minimal knowledge of the activity, they do not have a way to practice at home or their intellectual abilities slow down the learning process, this period of time is extended until they obtain the skills necessary to perform the job.
FOR THE FAMILY
Yaquelín Ávila is a Hairdressing and Makeup teacher. In her own home she has created the classroom for the training of her students. Since 2009 she has been teaching classes. She claims to be proud of the hundreds of students she has trained. She works with around three groups each year.
It highlights that this learning, even when they do not work as hairdressers or makeup artists, serves them for the care and attention of the family, which also has an impact on the economy, since they are expensive services and it is an expense that they reduce or eliminate.
The majority are very young, he specifies; He adds that he is pleased to contribute to training them in a profession, which also includes humanism and social responsibility, since within the training they go to centers such as the Home for the Elderly and grandparents’ homes, and they give haircuts for free, shaved off…
Nathaly studies at the Pedro Téllez polytechnic; However, she saw in this course a way to acquire knowledge that could benefit her economically and be useful, “it has been very good, it is another lesson.”
AND MORE
An old proverb says that knowledge is weightless, and if it helps increase monetary income at the individual and family level, it is a way to lighten daily burdens.
Learning these trades can in many cases be the exit door to autonomy, and the FMC not only advocates for it, but encourages it, creating opportunities.
