Dressmaker to share her skills with teen moms
FOR Suraya Williams, the business of making matric dance dresses doesn’t stop once the garments are made.
She usually follows up on the girls she makes dresses for, and after finding that many of the girls ended up pregnant, she felt she wanted to help them upskill themselves.
She will be teaching them the one thing she knows best – how to sew – in a free six-month course.
“Fifty perfect of the time I find that they have fallen pregnant – some of them get thrown out by their parents and others end up on drugs or alcohol.”
Williams said she had no formal training in dressmaking, but after her mother died she was left with her machines and made her first dress for her cousin, and was surprised at her ability.
“I was never taught, but as a child I was always around my mother when she was doing it and think I picked it up. When I am making these dresses it gives me the sense that I am back with my mother and I am living her dreams through me. It’s like I have an out-of-body experience.”
She said she wanted to change the narrative that the young girls’ lives were over if they had a child at a young age.
“The sewing will be on industrial machines so if they choose to work in the industry they will be familiar with the machines. The other thing I want to provide is a counselling service to them, and also a person to look after their children when they are here.”
Williams said even if she only five girls came to her sewing studio, she would feel like she had made a huge difference.
A survey done by the education department found that of 1 104 pupils sampled, 35% were sexually active and 79% of those were not on contraceptives, making teenage pregnancies a significant issue.
Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said her department’s policy was designed to encourage pupils to stay at school if they fell pregnant.
She added: “The policy recognises that all concerned have roles and responsibilities in this situation, including the school, the parents of the unborn child and the families concerned. In each case, the principal must discuss these responsibilities with the learner and her parents and must sign an agreement on these responsibilities”.