Islam, Development, and Urban Women's Reproductive Practices by Cortney Hughes Rinker

Author:Cortney Hughes Rinker [Rinker, Cortney Hughes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Anthropology, Cultural & Social, Women's Studies, Religion, Islam, General, Developing & Emerging Countries
ISBN: 9781136683596
Google: Z2PFBQAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 21504711
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-09-02T00:00:00+00:00

SEWING CLASSES AT THE RHO HEALTH CLINIC IN TARMA: AN ADDED BONUS

The RHO health clinic in Tarma of ers sewing classes to all of its female patients and their families or friends. All women can participate in these free classes instructed by two teachers, Nora and Haneez.5 Even if women already know how to sew well, the RHO provides them with a space in which they can socialize and work together. Nora and Haneez would teach those who did not know how to sew or would have liked to improve their skills for free of charge. In addition, they guided those who were more experienced in their projects. All of the participants in the sewing classes were extremely talented and made pieces of clothing in addition to home décor and items for special ceremonies and celebrations, such as weddings.

Several of the women who participated in the sewing classes were patients at the Tarma clinic, but they also came to sew on the days that they did not have appointments with the doctor. Each morning when I arrived at the clinic, there would be anywhere from three to ten women in the sewing room with Nora and Haneez. They would sew during the mornings until the clinic's staf, including the teachers, took a lunch break. The teachers would return in the afternoon for a few additional hours and open the room again for women to work. In general, the women in the classes knew each other well, and most of the ones I spoke with had been participating for an extended period of time. When I asked Noor why the organization of ered the sewing classes, she responded that like dermatology or family medicine, it is an added service intended to keep female patients attending the clinic and to attract new patients. If patients attend the classes on a regular basis, Noor believed that they would be more likely to seek additional services at the clinic. In other words, the sewing class is a way to get women through the clinic's door and to encourage them to use its medical services while they are there. I noticed that Nora and Haneez would often remind women during the classes how important it was to talk with Fatima about family planning or other medical concerns and to see the doctor when necessary.

Whereas attracting new patients and encouraging women to use additional services at the clinic were two main objectives of the sewing classes, sewing was also promoted as a way for women to contribute economically to their families and to help their families improve their financial standing. When I asked women what they did with the items that they produced in the class, many of them said that they would sell them for additional income. Nora said to me that many of the female participants come from the local area, and the clinic is located in a working-class community. The vast majority of the women in the classes do not come from money

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