Mercy Haven has completed the refurbishment process of its skill centre, established two years ago.
According to the centre manager of this abused women’s shelter Maria Pereira, the centre offers women an opportunity to learn sewing, crocheting, knitting, farming and computer skills. The centre also has educational toys for children.
“We know if they acquire such skills they will be able to get work or even establish their own businesses. Our main aim is to make sure the women are self–reliant, confident and empowered mentally and physically when they live in our shelter.
“We established this centre after we noticed a lot of women coming to the shelter are uneducated and reliant on the abusers.
“While they are housed at the centre, we allow them to sell the items they have crafted and planted because we want them to know that they can use the skills we have given them,” explained Pereira.
She added most of the women come with their children to the centre, so they ensure both the mother and child are healthy.
“There’s an agency that we work with that trains the women for domestic work, child care and first aid so they can have those skills at their disposal as well. And most of the women who come to the centre are affected by malnutrition. We have a dietician in the home that creates a devised menu that contains food with nutrition.
“In the shelter, there is an in-house social worker offering guidance to the recovering women and a psychologist who grants them psychological help.”
Mercy Haven is renovating its House of Claire (a house in the shelter) . For doing this they need donations of tiles, ceiling boards, bedroom cupboards and a steel door.
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