In Cameroon, there are still no laws that adequately protect the rights of women victims of violence; polygamy is widely tolerated, even viewed positively. In fact, gender inequality is one of the biggest obstacles to sustainable development, economic growth and the fight against poverty. Many efforts are being made to introduce courses on gender difference as early as primary school to educate respect and tolerance.

MDG 3 (Millennium Development Goal 3) to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women has led to significant progress in girls’ schooling and women’s inclusion in the labour market.

Almost responding with concrete facts to this request for the promotion of women, the Sisters of Charity in Ngaoundal are running a Women’s Promotion Centre, which was established several decades ago, but has recently undergone some changes. In fact, after a time of re-reading the needs of women in the villages, in order to respond to the most urgent requests, the Sisters of Charity have changed the type of courses, leaving much more room for practice than theory, and training young women in the art of tailoring in a shorter time than before. Moreover, at the end of the course, the students are not only able to make all kinds of clothes, but also receive a sewing machine as a gift, enabling them to start their own business. An opportunity to redeem themselves and become financially independent and more.

The fashion show, which resulted from this collaboration last September 2024, saw the models wearing clothes made partly in Ladispoli, with local fabrics, and partly in Ngaoundal, with models and fabrics from Cameroon. The combinations of colours and models were very elegant: bright, intense colours were combined with more sober fabrics in soft, delicate colours in a splendid harmony. A beautiful combination that smacks of brotherhood and universality that sends a message that goes far beyond fashion.

‘Fili di Speranza’ (Threads of Hope) truly seems to be a title that gives breath and hope, indeed, to every woman involved and committed to the project, but also allows one to hope for a humanity that knows how to weave strong bonds of solidarity and communion, respecting diversity.

The collaboration continues and on 29 March the two centres met again online: the young women from Ngaoundal was in their school and connected with pupils from Ladispoli, gathered for the occasion in the general house of the Sisters of Charity.

A collaboration between the Thouret Foundation onlus and Terra e Missione the idea is generated  of a shared project, that of ‘Fili di Speranza’ (Threads of Hope), a fruitful collaboration between the social tailoring project launched by Terra e Missione in Ladispoli, in the province of Rome, in collaboration with the Confraternity S. Maria del Rosario, Ciofs Fp Lazio and Caritas Porto-Santa Rufina, and the Women’s Promotion Centre in Ngaoundal. Two distant worlds, two very different ways of working, both animated by a single dream, that of assisting women in difficulty to ‘mend’ or make their lives blossom, through a professional training course and the offer of a space for listening and sharing.
Twinning has allowed these two groups of women to get to know each other at least ‘online’ and through the stories of the sisters and volunteers, and thus to discover the beauty of working together.