Embroidery before and afters...

Here are pictures of the Marys with examples of their first day of class, and their final projects. Notice the difference in quality from the first to the last. I am very proud of their improvement, as they are.



In Lusoga, the local language here, we would say, "Bulungi!", or "Beautiful!".

Embroidery class

One of Sewing Hope's initiatives for this fall was to send 3 of our teacher to do additional training to improve their skills, eventually to pass on to their students. Well, I am happy to report that all 3 have completed the 3 months course. I went to visit them on Friday and see the results of their education.

From Left: Toepista, an assistant teacher who actually was not part of the class, but in the picture because we love her. Mary (front) who everyone affectionately calls "old Mary". "Young Mary" is next (in white), then Sarah. And, in the lower right corner is Kanna, their teacher.

These women not only learned alot, but were proud and happy to tell me how much they love eachother and now consider themselves family.

They pulled out piles and piles of work they had completed. I could see the stages of improvement through the weeks they worked. See some before-and-after's of their work in the next post.

Kato Andrew

For those of you who have been following from the beginning, I wanted to introduce you to Andrew, who is Peter's twin brother. The two of them are Sarah's youngest sons, and were vital to our team, working as translators, as well as becoming fast friends to us all. One or both of them were with us everyday as we taught our classes, aiding us not only in teaching, but also in negotiating prices, giving directions to drivers, and generally building relationships with the women we taught. They have truly become like brothers to me over the years, and it was awesome to see them bond so quickly and easily with the rest of the team also! There were many laughs as Andrew adopted some new "American" phrases. And there were some tears as we heard, through their translations, the heart-wrenching stories of the women and teens we work with. Their gifts of speaking sensitively, yet honestly, with people brought out some true stories that broke our hearts and brought us closer to the work we do in Uganda.

Waiswa Peter and Kato Andrew, THANK YOU! We loved having you as a part of our team!
This is Andrew with Misham, their little cousin whose mother died as an infant. He now lives with Sarah and is the sweetest little thing with huge eyes and cheeks. He is very serious and was captivated, and a bit scared by us. Towards the end of the month we spent in Jinja, he had improved slightly and would take my hand after much prompting, but mostly he kept his distance.

Another side note...."Waiswa" as in Waiswa Peter, means "elder male twin" and "Kato" as in Kato Andrew, means "younger male twin". "Nalongo" as in Nalongo Sarah, means "mother of twins", which means her named changed when she had her twin boys. Peter, unfortunately, couldn't remember her previous name. Peter, if you are reading this, find out and let me know! Interesting, isn't it how some African names are descriptive of factual information like that?!

Goodbye Georgette, hello girls!

We've had a change in our team....Friday, after a wonderful last day in Idoome, we welcomed our new team of Courtney, Rachel, and Shannon, and had a farewell dinner for Georgette. It has been great to have our new girls here, as they not only bring a new set of skills, but a great sense of humor and lightness to our group. We have been introducing them to the local money, the local transportation, and the local food. It has been great!

But, Judy and I do miss Georgette. She has a frankness about her that is refreshing and easy in this culture. I saw her relate to people by telling them in all sorts of ways how their culture and our culture are different, but more often than not, similar. It was always fun to hear her perceptions and opinions on things, as she either saw them in a different manner, or we saw them the same, but she put things in a way I wished that I could've. Those of you who know Georgette, please take the time to look at a few pictures and ask for her best stories. We have had some good belly laughs...and Georgette, if you are out there, please write something for me to post here....maybe the story about the bug man...or buying the needles...or your triumphs during knitting class.
Here is a picture of Georgette fitting a dress with the women of MOHM. This feels like a memorial or something. Ha! Sorry about that!

Aisha

This is Aisha, one of our MOHM women who is simply lovely. She has a quiet and sweet spirit, and a surprising ambition. Although I have met her in the past, this year was the first time I was able to sit down with her and learn more about her life. The basics are that she has a household of 11, which she supports on her own because her husband cannot work due to illness.

She took an idea of Sarah's and has run with it, turning it into a little business for herself. Basically, she can go to the market and purchase a blouse for 500ugs, around 25 cents in our money. She takes it home, and cuts the sleeves off, takes it in to be more fitted, puts elastic in the waist, opens the neckline using the sleeves as a facing, and can resell it for 1000ugs, doubling her money. As long as the blouse is 30" long, it can be a dress, or she can use the sleeves or a bedsheet to lengthen it also. These are popular among young women or teenagers in the villages. It is a creative and cost-effective way to make a new product, one which most of Sarah's students never latched onto. But Aisha has. It is so satisfying to see that after 2 years of classes, virtually all of the women are using their skills to make money! Aisha is only one example.

Happy Birthday, Judy!

So, Judy celebrated her birthday on Tuesday, the 14th....we had a day of work, and unbeknownst to her, I was able to secretly arrange a surprise with the women. They ended our day with an amazing singing and dancing time, in Judy's honor. Here is Tausi and Rehema, who always end up being the leaders when the dancing starts. It is contagious! This is one of my favorite things about being here...the way the women celebrate with singing and dancing as a group. If I was more technically apt, I could send a little video snippet and you could hear the drumbeats also. Basically once the women started singing, 4 little boys ran to get the drums and sat down to back them up with the beat. It was so amazing, and Judy was very honored. We ended the evening with the 3 of us at a restaurant, sharing a piece of chocolate cake. Happy Birthday, Judy!

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....

meeting with Yusto

Yesterday, I had my first official meeting with the leadership of one of our organizations, the Orphans Rescue Mission (ORM). ORM has been working with Fount from the beginning and although Sewing Hope was able to provide them with 3 sewing machines last year, this will be the first summer to teach seminars and to "officially" partner with them. The meeting began with Yusto, the director, and his wife Joy. Then, we were later joined by the tailoring teacher, Patience, and Yusto's oldest son, Andrew.

Here is the Mission Statement for the proposal they sent to us, asking for support of their sewing program: Our mission is to equip ORM Children with skills and later, upon satisfactory process of rehabilitation and restoration, re-integrate them in our communities when they are already self-supportive and decent people.

The exciting thing about ORM is that they are not only working with adult women of the community who need a way to support their families, but also with older, teen-aged orphans who will soon be expected to support themselves entirely...age 15. Their hope is to help provide tangible life-skills, sewing and tailoring being a huge part of that, but also including skills such as baking and cleaning.

As exciting as their program is, and as dynamic as their director is, they still have a long way to get to their goals. One of the biggest goals for the immediate future is to secure a contract with a local school to make school uniforms. The school has 700 children, so this size business would be amazing for their program! But, before they can pursue a contract, Sewing Hope has started to help them be sure that they can actually sustain and follow-through with filling such a large order.

Our 5+ hour meeting consisted of not only my first truly local meal since being back in Uganda, but of meeting and creating a salary agreement for their new teacher, Patience. She will be graduating from a Kampala-based vocational school, the YWCA funny enough, at the end of August, and has agreed to teach for a full year at ORM, sharing her knowledge and skills with the women and teenagers there. Securing a consistent and qualified teacher has been a struggle up till now, and is the first step in getting ORM in a position to move forward with the rest. This program is young, but full of energy, and dynamic.... and has tons of hope to accomplish their goals! There is no doubt that given enough time and resources ORM is going to succeed. My team will be back in 3 weeks to lead our seminars. Can't wait!!!