Life is getting better for Sifa Stone, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) based at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa District. Stone learned to produce affordable reusable sanitary pads for women and girls in 2025 under a project funded by the Central Emergency Response Fund (Cerf). She is hoping to use her new skills to improve her livelihood and financial status.
A single mother of two boys aged 9 and 10, Stone arrived at the camp in 2016 with her husband, who later abandoned her and their children a year later. “I was left with no stable source of income and struggling to provide for my family. I relied on performing occasional chores— like washing people’s clothes—to survive,” she recalled.
The hardship was so severe that her children sometimes missed school because they lacked food and basic supplies, even though tuition was free. In 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Food Programme (WFP) working at Dzaleka Refugee Camp invited individuals with tailoring experience to train in production of face masks. Drawing on the basic tailoring skills she had acquired in her home country, Sifa joined the initiative and, with additional training, helped to produce face masks.
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“When the project ended, I continued with casual labour and taking on occasional tailoring work as I was limited by not having my own sewing machine,” she said. In 2025, her life took another positive turn when the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, through Cerf funding, selected 26 vulnerable individuals for a specialised two-day training in production of reusable sanitary pads at the Dowa District Centre. Stone qualified for the training because of her tailoring background.
Today, she continues to use the sewing machine she received from WFP after the training. “I’m deeply grateful for the opportunities that have transformed my life,” she said. She is now not only able to afford enough food for her children but also able to send them to school regularly. Today, equipped with tailoring skills, Stone collaborates with a small group to train other willing resource-limited individuals so they too can become self-reliant.
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