Restoration, healing and hope have underpinned Jolene Teo’s life story.

So it comes as no surprise to those who know her that those very qualities underpin The Sowing Room, a social enterprise started by Teo two and a half years ago.

The Sowing Room equips abused domestic helpers with sewing skills.

Jolene’s experience in marketing, running her own business, jewellery design and counselling have come in useful. But it is her personal faith in a God of miracles that is at the heart of the enterprise .

The journey for Teo, 52, began in 2010, when a friend of hers, Shih Shu Hui, co-founded Tamar Village, a skills centre set up to bring hope, help and healing to streetwalkers from red light districts and their families.

Teo was invited to teach the women how to make jewellery over a couple of sessions, but was so touched by the enthusiasm of the women she met that she soon found herself at the centre every day.

She became actively involved in the women’s lives and eventually went on to counsel one of their daughters who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of being molested.

Seeing with new eyes

But 2015 came with a health scare for Teo. Waking up to a sudden onset of double vision, Teo consulted an eye doctor, who told her she likely had a tumour or blood clot weighing on a nerve.

Rather than cave in to fear, she chose to surrender her health to God and believe He would heal her.

The Sowing Room creations are made by domestic helpers who have been abused.

“I attended a church that believes in miracles. And I’ve met a couple whose lives have been marked by miracles – I was privileged to see how they live by faith. I believe that Jesus not only came to die for us, but to redeem us of all curses and heal us of our infirmities.

“Despite what the eye doctor said, I told myself that God is the Alpha and Omega and if I held onto my faith and believed, His Word would not fail.”

A week later, on the same day she would receive MRI results indicating that her health was in the clear, Teo woke to normal vision.

She returned to Tamar Village the next day and began to see with new eyes.

Instead of a heap of donated fabric scraps, she pictured endless possibilities: “I could see a pile of napkins, table runners, bags and zipper bags.” And the idea for The Sowing Room was birthed.

What followed was a series of divine appointments.

An old friend who was a member of Lion’s Club caught Teo’s vision and put her in touch with a centre that cares for abused domestic helpers from countries like Myanmar, the Philippines and India.

Though Teo did not yet have clarity or a business model, she knew from her experience at Tamar Village that she could marry her counselling and creative skills to befriend the women and help them heal through artistic expression.

A verse that was a beacon of light and hope to Teo was Zechariah 9:11-12:

“As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
Today I declare that I will restore to you double.”

“For those who stand for restoration, the Lord will return twice as much as what was lost,” said Teo. “This was a very important verse to me in setting up the enterprise.”

Beauty in castaways

In October 2015, Teo launched The Sowing Room and began working with five women.

Apart from providing them with the means to financially support themselves by paying them for every piece they produce, she imparts what she knows: How to design, maximise a scrap of cloth and market their goods.

As the women work with their hands, their healing transformations have been visible. “The ladies feel like they are discards. But beauty can be brought out of castaways.”

One of the stories she holds close to her heart is the journey of Jeanie, a Filipino domestic helper who spent six months with The Sowing Room before returning to the Philippines.

Having taught her how to create more than 15 designs, Teo decided to gift her with a sewing machine.

Jeanie has since started her own online business selling handmade accessories and is optimistic about the future.

Said Teo: “She told me, ‘Before when I was broke, I was just broke. Now when I’m broke, I know I can create something to sell.’” 

Oven mitts made by the women at The Sowing Room.

Seasonal items, such as Christmas ornaments and ang bao clutches (above) are designed and handsewn at The Sowing Room.

Merchandise includes bags of various designs.

A journey among friends

Fostering confidence and self-esteem in the women is a top priority for Teo.

While they are not professionals and their work sometimes bears slight imperfections, she is committed to encouraging and showing them that what they do is worthy.

One of the ways that has proven effective is through skills certification. For this, Teo reached out to Spotlight, which agreed to grade the women on their skills and provide them with sewing certificates.

Another way Teo encourages the women is by relaying stories about how their products have been received.

In the beginning, Teo primarily sold the products at home sale parties. Since then, she has found more sustainable avenues in the form of pop-up stores at trendy cafés like Carpenter & Cook and Plain Vanilla.

Indeed, Plain Vanilla was so impressed by The Sowing Room’s creations that they engaged the women to create products for their own homeware line.

“The beauty about my work is the community that is involved,” says Teo. “Jennifer (extreme left) from Romanez gives me her off cuts, Patricia (2nd from left) always puts up her hand to help at pop-up sales, and Yu Ping (extreme right) helps me get the stock organised. I’m not really alone!”

However, the journey has not been without its bumps. As the enterprise engages women whose legal cases are being investigated, Teo’s time with them is limited before they are either sent home or re-employed.

This cycle was initially discouraging, as she was faced with training women from scratch each time the experienced ones left.

In the face of these continuing challenges, Teo is comforted by her life verse, Romans 8:28, and remains resolute in her belief that God has entrusted her with this mission to help bring healing to the women with whom she works.

“As I go along, I know that my aim is really to help the girls and empower them as much as I can while they’re here,” said Teo. “As I keep my focus on that, God will do the rest.”

For Teo and the 17 women she has helped so far, every item produced by The Sowing Room represents how the scraps and broken pieces of life can be stitched together and made beautiful again.