‘Changing lives of women — one skill at a time’

The TAF Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation working for women empowerment through its Vocational Training Institute (TAFF-VTI), has commenced its second 3.5-month training course for marginalised women from all across Karachi. 

This rigorous course will impart classroom and practical training in culinary and housekeeping skills, preparing the trainees comprehensively for a career as professional domestic helpers.

There is an overwhelming demand for well-trained, groomed and reliable domestic helpers with structured skills. The higher socio-economic segment of the Pakistani society currently addresses this need through domestic help imported from other countries like Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. 

TAFF-VTI is now all set to bring about a paradigm shift by institutionalising the domestic help industry in Pakistan through skills development of women, who are willing to build a career for themselves in this field. Not only will there be an assured supply of local skilled domestic helpers for those who need it, but sustainable livelihoods will be created for our society’s marginalised women.

In a press release issued on Tuesday, Aatiqa Lateef, CEO of the TAF Foundation, said: “Our programme engages women through a three-tier model – recruitment, training and placement. Thus, the objective is not just providing professional training, but also ensuring placement of our graduates, with premium remuneration. This programme is developed to enable women in Pakistan not only with a professional skill set but to also empower them with a legal and financial understanding of their rights as women. We have seen that these additional skills have had a transformational impact on their personal lives.”

Previously, TAFF-VTI rolled out two terms from which the majority of the graduates were placed into meaningful employment. These graduates who were earning Rs4,000 to Rs8,000 per month before joining TAFF-VTI are now working in contractual employment at Rs20,000 to Rs30,000 per month, with their contracts being based on the labour laws in Pakistan and managed by the VTI’s Career Placement Centre.

“Today I consider myself extremely fortunate to have received this training from TAFF-VTI,” stated Sultana, a trainee from the pilot batch, adding: “It has been a life-changing experience, which only someone who has remained marginalised and exploited their whole life can really understand. The quality and efficiency of my work has improved drastically, my self-confidence is sky-high, and I have a new respect and dignity not only from my own family and in-laws but from my whole community. With my much larger income now, I am able to achieve at least one dream -- provide a good education to my son, which was previously impossible.”

The TAF Foundation began working as the Abbassciy Family Foundation in the year 2010 and served as a charitable organisation for the underprivileged. In 2015, the foundation was restructured into a philanthropic organisation focused on long-term development initiatives.

Renamed the TAF Foundation, TAFF aligned its mandates to education, jealth, and social consciousness and now concentrates on sustainable programmes which help to create upward social and economic mobility.