Teacher Assessments, Monday July 12

This summer, Sewing Hope is focusing primarily on TEACHER TRAINING. As we continue to define and refine our work here in Uganda, I am being more and more convinced that focusing on teachers, and then expecting that they will teach their students, is the most efficient and valuable way to spend a few weeks in-country.

So, to that end, we started our first week of teacher training on monday. We spent the first day traveling around Jinja to visit the various locations where HODASSU does it's work. For those unfamiliar, HODASSU, is a new organization to Fount's work, and it focuses on vocational training for disabled children and adults. Their structure is different from our other organizations, in that they support individuals through partnering to help them pay rent, secure resources, and teach skills to blind and deaf children.

First we visited the shop where a man named Emma (short for Emmanuel) works. He does alterations and makes men's shirts, and women's dresses. He also teaches about 5 students from his modest shop and 2 machines. He always has a HUGE smile. We had him do the small exercises we brought to understand a little more about his skill level. We met his students and asked him a TON of questions.

We moved on to a local Vocational Training School called Tubalera. Here, we met a disabled woman named Jennifer who has been sewing for 20 years and currently has a full time position as their head sewing teacher. HODASSU has been supporting 2 disabled students to take classes here and she is an inspiration to them, as someone who has overcome a disability by using sewing skills.

Next we went next door to visit Erina, who lives with her children in a small room. Erina cannot walk upright, but rather uses her hands and feet to crawl around. She cares for her children using the hand-crank machine provided by HODASSU. She showed us an impress skirt and top she had made. Lori told me later that the first time she visited Erina in her home, she had given birth that very morning and was doing her wash when they arrived!!! and, I'm not talking with a machine...by hand and line-dried! ha! AMAZINGLY strong woman.

Our next stop was to visit a women's group. We walked into a chicken coop that had been cleared out for a make-shift meeting place. There were about 10 women sitting in a semi-circle with piles and piles of beads laying on the floor mats, along with many styles of hand-woven baskets. It was a beautiful sight...lots of color. We spent awhile speaking to them about the products they make and what they'd like to be doing. It is very clear that they are eager to learn, but they don't have access to a machine and must hire one (rent) from time to time.....theirs was destroyed in a fire last year. They have sent 4 women to our class.

Our final stop was at Walukuba primary school, just outside of Jinja Town. This is a wonderful school which has a group of deaf students living/studying there. Although Victoria, their teacher who is attending our classes, was not there, we had a fun time trying to sign with the children, learn some of their names, etc. The director of the program there, Flavia, is just lovely and so supportive of HODASSU's work in their school. Their hope is to be able to give their students some training so that they can leave school with a way to provide for themselves.

By the end of the day, my team had a better idea of who their students would be, what their challenges and limitations are, and what their skill level may be. We went home exhausted, but excited.