Threading a New Path: Saeeda’s Journey from Isolation to Enterprise

In Union Council Churbandar, in Gwadar district, Saeeda’s days once revolved around quiet, repetitive work.

At 39, widowed and raising two children, she relied on hand embroidery to sustain her household. Her work was careful and skilled, but it remained confined within her home. Without access to buyers, pricing knowledge, or regular orders, her monthly income fluctuated between PKR 10,000 and 15,000. It was uncertain, informal, and difficult to scale. 

“I used to do embroidery, but I did not know how to sell my work properly or get regular orders,” she recalls. 

Like many women in her community, Saeeda’s challenge was not a lack of skill. It was the absence of a pathway to turn that skill into a stable livelihood.

That began to change with the establishment of the Women Resource Centre (WRC) in Churbandar under the Gwadar Lasbela Livelihoods Support Project, financed by Government of Pakistan and the International Dund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Designed as a safe and accessible space, the centre brought women together to learn, work, and exchange knowledge. 

For Saeeda, it marked her first step out of isolation.

Through the centre, she participated in Enterprise Development Training, where she learned advanced embroidery techniques, product finishing, business planning, and basic financial management. More importantly, she began to understand how her work could connect to a wider market.

The shift was not immediate, but it was steady.

At the WRC, women were encouraged to organise into enterprise groups. Saeeda joined others with similar skills, and for the first time, her work became part of a collective process. Tasks were shared across embroidery, stitching, finishing, and packaging. Products that once took months to complete could now be produced more efficiently and with consistent quality. 

With support from the centre, she also began receiving orders from local markets and women-led online networks, including through WhatsApp. Her customer base expanded, and her pricing improved.

Today, Saeeda earns approximately PKR 35,000 a month. 

The increase in income has brought stability to her household, but the change is not only financial.

“After my husband passed away, I was broken and afraid… The Women Resource Centre gave me skills, confidence, and direction. Today, I can support my children with dignity and hope.” 

The centre has also reshaped how women in the community engage with work and with each other. It provides a space where they can move beyond home-based, informal production into structured, market-oriented activities, while building confidence and decision-making capacity.

Saeeda’s experience reflects a broader shift underway across Gwadar and Lasbela districts. 

Under the project, women are not peripheral participants but a central focus. They make up more than half of the membership in community organisations, and the majority of productive assets and training opportunities are directed towards them. This approach is supported through a network of Women Resource Centres, designed to anchor skills development, enterprise formation, and market engagement at the local level. 

The results are visible beyond individual households. Across the project area, there has been a marked decline in the proportion of ultra-poor households earning below PKR 10,000, alongside a rise in households moving into higher income brackets. These trends indicate a gradual but measurable shift from subsistence to more stable livelihoods.

At the same time, the process is still evolving. Building enterprise groups, strengthening market linkages, and sustaining local institutions such as WRCs requires time and continued engagement. 

For Saeeda, however, the direction is already clear.

What began as solitary work within the confines of her home has grown into a more structured livelihood, connected to markets and supported by a network of women facing similar challenges. In that transition lies not only increased income, but a redefinition of what is possible.