Showing their curves...Tuesday July 13

Today was spent at the lively women's group in Bulabandi. Those of you familiar with our work over the past 3 years will have heard me speak of these women and their energy, dedication, and progress. They have been working hard to use the capital we gave them last summer, and have also sent 4 of their members to Jinja for embroidery classes each week. I continue to be so proud of their work.

We decided to do a project that no one on our team had ever tried before, but had heard about....HOME-MADE DRESS FORMS! Last summer, we had taught our women about using western-style patterns to cut dresses, so our hope is that these can help them be more creative with their designs, as well as adapt existing dresses and skirts into new styles by changing necklines, adding trims, taking it in, etc. We spoke to them about choosing one close to their customer's size and being sure that the garment will fit. Also, someday these women hope to have a shop in town, so dress forms could be used to display items for sale as well.

We had them choose 3 women of different sizes. In short, the process consisted of wrapping these women in saran wrap, then duct tape, and then stuffing it around a wooden stand we had built for this purpose. It was a really funny time, as the women made comments about eachother's hips, and watched a replica of their friends come to life before their eyes. Once I get some photos, I will post the process here for you to see.

Not only was in EXTREMELY satisfying to accomplish creating these forms, but I was happy to see how we came together as a team to problem-solve. There were many things we had to figure out on the fly, and in front of the women...and we did it. We ended up with 3 beautiful AND FUNCTIONAL dress forms. The only real critique was that the stands needed larger bases, as they kept being blown over by the wind.

Scissors!!!

So, it has been a few days since I have updated, due to electricity being down, taking Georgette to get some medicine, and then 2 really full days which ran long and left me exhausted. So, I am going to try to do a few short little snippets to give you more of a picture of our week.

So, for those of you who donated to our supply request in the last few weeks before we left for our trip, here is the first picture of where your donation went. We were able to either acquire or purchase a pair of scissors for each woman that we work with, totaling around 80. We gave out the first batch on wednesday to the women of MOHM, and it was awesome. They were so excited! Thanks to all of you who gave! For those of us who work in the costume/fashion industry, we all know how important a good pair of scissors is, and now each woman has one of her own!

Uniforms!

This adorable picture contains more than meets the casual eye. The first trip I took to Uganda was with Fount of Mercy in the summer of 2007. Marie Yi and I taught a drawing class. When I went back to visit Sarah's class a few days later, she expanded on our drawing class by having the women spend time designing a new dress for the girls uniforms that they hoped to learn to make over the next year. The women spent about an hour sketching and coloring their ideas, and then came back together to look at each one, choosing the one that would be most practical for them to make. They chose one done by a woman named Florence.

We bought them some fabric to make these uniforms, and when we came back a year later, I was pleased to see that there were some uniforms scattered amongst the kids....i would say maybe 5-6 total. It was a great feeling to see them in flesh, after designing them the year before.

Well, when we arrived to MOHM's site this morning, there were kids in uniforms everywhere. Not everyone had one, but definitely a majority.....maybe 3/4 of the children! It was so exciting! I grouped some together for this shot. This is probably the biggest reward of coming back to Uganda year-after-year...getting to see the changes that happen as the women gain more skills and more confidence, and start making tangible improvements in their own lives and their communities. Thanks to you, our supporters, for making this work possible!

first village day!

Today was our first day spent in a village. We went to Wairaka to meet with the leadership of Message of Hope Ministries (MOHM). The day started with a boda (the local alternative for a taxi....jumping on the back of a moped) ride to meet Judy and Georgette. We headed into town and went to the taxi park, where we negotiated a matatu ride out to Wairaka. A matatu is the Ugandan version of a public transport system...basically a fifteen passenger volkswagen bus-type van into which they cram as many people, bags of maize, and chickens as possible. They stop all along their path, letting people off and picking people up.

When we got to Wairaka, we headed to Sarah's (MOHM's tailoring teacher) shop, where we met up with one of her older sons, Seth....for those of you following along, Seth is Peter's older brother. We followed him to his mother's home, where we spent an hour or so, catching up, laughing, and drinking a hot poshu drink...much like drinking cream of wheat, actually. I had a great time!!! They have truly become like family to me.

We then headed across the main road to Isaac and Irene's home to officially have our meeting. They welcomed us warmly, and as we waited for Isaac to run an errand (this is called "African time"...things happen when they happen...they cannot be rushed), we got a lesson from Irene and Sarah about how the traditional "gomas" is worn. A gomas is the traditional dress for respectable women...it is definitely a ceremonial dress, and expected to be worn at funeral, weddings, etc., but is also a day-dress for many women. They start wearing it when they "are grown", as Irene put it...or when they get married, really.

Judy volunteered and was a great sport as they dressed her first in the striped underskirt, seen left, then put the dress on and tied the sash. The real test came when they stepped back and said, "now it is your turn!" She was amazing and gave it a shot...only making a few mistakes, which they quickly corrected. The picture to the right is Sarah tying the sash around...the finishing touch to Judy's gomas.

We had our meeting and discussed all aspects of the tailoring program and what our team will be doing while here, as well as this coming year and the future years. The exciting thing about MOHM is that one, they have the most amazing teacher, Sarah, who is very talented and driven, and two, they are the farthest along of our organizations, as far as the women's skills go. They spoke of Tausi, [who is quoted in our press kit, which you can find at www.sewinghope.net] and how she and 2 other ladies have taken their skills and begun to make children's dresses, selling them in local villages. This has been our hope for them, and it is gratifying to see that they have already began.

We ate a local meal with them, and then headed back to Sarah's shop. On the way, Sarah stopped and introduced us to Beatrice, who was a previous student of Sarah's, who now works in a small shop where one can buy what this muzungu (word for white person) believes is a weave. ha! Anyway, she was sitting there hand-embroidering some small table linens with beautiful flowers. Her picture is below.

It has been an exhausting, but gratifying day. It is so good to reconnect with everyone here and see their progress and be reminded of their needs. We have a day off tomorrow to rest, then will begin our seminars with MOHM on Monday. Until then....