Stitching Up an Industry

A technician repairs a sewing machine in Sri Lanka. Photo: Amy Ellingson/Mercy Corps

Over the last three months, Mercy Corps has partnered with Singer Sewing Machine Company to help Sri Lankan seamstresses revive their businesses.

In that time, more than 500 machines in the Trincomalee area have been repaired by three Singer certified technicians from neighboring districts. Mercy Corps is covering the costs and parts for repairs and advertisement.

The goal of this project is to salvage machines affected by the tsunami that otherwise would just be thrown away. These machines can then be given to local women whose sole marketable skill is sewing.

This project is one of many that are empowering women, generating income for families and strengthening local economies in this part of Sri Lanka. Tanga, Mercy Corps Sri Lanka's project officer in the area, recently described the project.

Interview with Tanga

I first came to the idea after noticing a number of machines were just being abandoned after the tsunami. My family's house was swamped by the water, eight feet high, and my wife’s machine was ruined – but she was able to get the repair man to come to the house and fix it.

Trouble was, there was only one repair man in Trincomalee town, and hundreds of machines needing repair after the wave. When I first visited his shop, I could barely fit into the room there were machines of all kinds stacked to the roof awaiting repair. At this time, people were just giving up and throwing away their machines.

So I went to Singer with an idea to ask for additional technical support to come to Trincomalee town to meet the high demand for repairs. They agreed to send three repairmen, as long as Mercy Corps covered the costs for spare parts, labor and advertising.

When the shop was ready to open, we distributed flyers in Singhala and Tamil all over town and posted a large sign over the door explaining that the shop would repair all sewing machines damaged by the tsunami. In the first month, the shop received 147 machines and repaired 78.

There have been a few lessons we’ve learned along the way. Initially, we were estimating the repairs for each machine to be between 500-2,000 rupees ($5-$20) – however, we were not counting on the saltwater damage to the tables as well. The tables are especially crucial to the operation of the foot-pedaled machines that are so prevalent in Sri Lanka.

After considering replacement of the tables, machine repairs are totaling almost 7,000 rupees ($70). Still, a brand new machine costs about 14,000 rupees ($140), so the cost of repairing a damaged machine is still half that of buying a new one. Plus it saves the cost of disposal, which has been an enormous problem all along the coast after the tsunami.

Overall, people are happy to have something fixed that they thought lost. I have been really pleased with the skill and dedication of the technicians, and our recipients have been amazed by the transformation of their machines in a relatively short time.