Inspiration from study visit in London

There is a large Bangladeshi community living nearby Brick Lane Street since the fifties of the last century. This street is surrounded by City, heart of the financial world, and by historical fortress Tower. The area is a rich mix of exotic restaurants, shops and alternative culture. In the same place you can meet a veiled woman in traditional dress as well as Youth in “emo” style. „ In the sixteenth century the first refugees found their shelter here and since then foreigners have always lived in this area “says Vaughan Jones, director of community centre Praxis, which offers services for migrants for more than 30 years. New migrants are settling in this district every day, mostly from Asian and African Muslim countries.

We met a young Muslim woman, which followed her husband to London from Pakistan, at celebration party in community centre Bromley by Bow Centre. She attended here an English course. Coordinator from the centre explained us that it is not so simple to organise educational activities for women from Muslim countries. The biggest barrier lay in the traditional perception of the role of women in some families according which a young woman should stay at home and there is no need to provide her education. Despite of that the community centre has found a way how to reach these women from traditional families. They started workshops with typically female work. We visited sewing workshop HEBA which only women can attend. Older woman train here the younger women how to design and sew the clothes. When designing dress the centre cooperates also with some design companies. These workshops are held in a safe environment and during the courses it is possible to use a nursery. At the workshops the women  learn not only how to create a dress but they also practice their English and gain „soft“ skills such as carefulness, responsibility, organizational skills and even punctuality. We believe it is an efficient way how to combine traditional culture with a need to develop skills necessary for successful integration into the western society.

The study visit was financed by the Lifelong Learning Programme - Leonardo da Vinci.