Mexican immigrant opens free sewing school in New York and gives away sewing machines

NEW YORK.- Sonia Castrejón, a 44-year-old Mexican immigrant, she opened a free sewing school in Bushwik, New York. It’s called sewing school the michoacanaaimed at mothers with children who have special health challenges.

“For me personally, life in this country has been quite complicated and difficult,” Castrejón told Univision 41. “Although thank God I have my children healthy. I think of the mothers who have special children, because, if I have my children healthy and my life is complicated, imagine them. That is why I wanted to do it for mothers with special challenges”, adds the Hispanic.

Castrejón learned to sew at the age of 13 when she lived in Mexico and worked as a cleaner in a woman’s house. But he never thought that sewing would lead him to change so many other women’s lives.

“Over time I emigrated to the United States”says Castrejón “and I had to do everything: cleaning, construction work, in restaurants… But in the pandemic I lost my job and I found it very difficult ”, says the woman who had to manage and start sewing to earn a living.

“The peace of sewing”: the reason why Sonia Castrejón teaches this art

Fortunately, Sonia says, they gave her the opportunity to work as a seamstress. “I realized that it is a job that I really like and that sewing relaxes me”, explains the Mexican.

By experiencing “the peace of sewing” she wanted to share it with other people and that is why she thought of the most fighting mothers, which for her are those with children with special health challenges.

“And the beauty of this life is to sew dreams, embroider stories and untie the knots of our days”, says one of the messages written on the windows of her sewing workshop.

Sonia is not a rich woman, but had to pay part of the fabrics and other materials that her students were going to use in sewing classes. And so, modestly, but with all her heart, she started her little school.

He also asked some of his friends and the social media community for help. “I have many friends and I belong to a collective called Grupo Amor and they helped me make a post on Instagram, saying that I was giving free classesto people who need a sewing workshop”, says Sonia.

El blog This Bushwick Life, reported the graduation highlighting the initiative of the mother of two children, who launched a non-profit school at his own pace.

La Michoacana graduated and now thinks regarding the new promotion

And when they graduated, the La Michoacana sewing school gave them their duly notarized diplomas to give them more value.

The results have been very satisfactory for her, according to her account. “Two people who took the classes are already working with me too, helping me”, says Sonia proudly.

Reflecting on how she was able to empower these mothers and help them earn a living, she confesses that this leaves “a good taste in her mouth” and makes her feel very “satisfied”, which will carry in your heart until the last day of your life.

But Sonia Castrejón’s dream does not stop there. “The first ones have already graduated. Now I have to look for the materials for a new group”, he maintains.

In addition to teaching them to sew, Castrejón dreams that this will help one day students can create their own companies.

The second promotion of the La Michoacana Sewing School will take place at the end of April. If you want more information call: (347) 962-4261.

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