A young mother works on a project in the Hands of Compassion sewing room.

In a room buzzing with activity, young mothers are busy cutting patterns from cloth, sewing new outfits, practicing and perfecting a trade that may give them financial support in the future.

There are young children running in and out of the room, and babies playing in a crib in the corner, as the women work. Many patterns hang from a nearby wall, and the women will learn to make each one.

The sewing instructor, holding a pattern, explains her program.

These women are part of Compassion’s Child Survival Program (CSP), which currently has 30,269 mothers and babies enrolled worldwide. This project near Leon, Nicaragua, called Manos de Compasion (Hands of Compassion), is serving 43 women. Of these, five are still pregnant, while the remaining have had their babies already. Mothers can stay in the program until their children turn three years old, when the child is registered in Compassion’s sponsorship program.

The sewing instructor teaches the women using five treadle sewing machines. She shows us some items they’ve made, including a toothbrush holder for the children at the project, and a nurse’s outfit for the CSP director, Julissa, who is going to nursing school.

When the women aren’t learning to sew, Julissa teaches them valuable parenting skills and covers topics like nutrition and health and shows them how to stimulate and teach their babies.

Julissa keeps a three-ring binder for each mother in the program, tracking each baby’s milestones and medical appointments. She also makes home visits to the mothers and babies, giving both much-needed care and attention.

If you are interested in supporting a CSP similar to Hands of Compassion, please click here. Your donation will help to prevent illness, give children a healthy start, provide training to mothers, and offer spiritual nurturing while Compassion ministers to the whole family.

Julissa in the baby room.

A mother and baby in the sewing room.

A toddler napping at the CSP.