'Maison Dorcas' is a development project that provides employment and training for women in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Here, many have learned valuable skills and gained new confidence. Those who were rejected because of their faith have found the support and encouragement of a family, in addition to a means to support themselves.
Discovering Self-Worth
When Adjaratou came to 'Maison Dorcas', she had been thrown out of her family because she left Islam. She had no confidence and would hardly try to learn. One day Janet sat her down at the sewing machine with a simple job and told her, 'You sit here and do this until you can do it perfectly.' No discussion. She did it, and now she is one who has made the most progress in her sewing.
Wearing her favourite red dress, Adjaratou explains, 'This is the dress I bought with my first salary. Even after it wears out, I'm going to keep it to remember how proud I was to be able to buy it myself.'
For most of the 14 members of 'Maison Dorcas', this is their first job. They learn to be diligent and are given responsibility. In the process, they discover that they are capable and intelligent - one of the women has even started her own 
business. Others are now respected by their Muslim families because they have a regular job.
Moving Towards Sustainability
After 10 years, the project is close to being profitable, but our market has been reduced with the civil strife in Côte d'Ivoire. To face this challenge, we have brought in five new members to increase production, lower prices, and boost sales. Production is soaring, but it will take us a while to broaden our market. Even so, we need to keep paying our workers their modest salaries.
