Shopping with the Suubi girls

We had SUCH a fun time shopping with the Suubi girls for all the things they will need to start their new tailoring businesses. This too was made possible by the generosity of Australians who have given these girls the opportunity to improve their lives and the lives of their children though sewing.

They bought foam for padding to make more bags 

 

They had fun buying 

some gorgeous fabrics,

zips, elastic, stiffening, needles, pins, threads and lots more.

They had SUCH a wonderful time.

When we got back to Suubi they spent time

displaying everything,

talking about the things they planned to make 

 and how hard they were going to work to build successful businesses.

 It was so good to share in their excitement.

 This was another unexpected gift from God who provides, so we spent time thanking Him together. Then I said Goodbye for the last time and headed home, very weary after a fabulous shopping trip with the beautiful Suubi girls.

The tailoring girls graduated on Friday

Friday was a wonderful celebration day for the young mums from YFC's Suubi home who have completed their 5 month live-in tailoring course.

 YFC Uganda sure knows how to put on a party.

They know how to make an ordinary back courtyard look extraordinary.

I was guest speaker. What a privilege it was to speak into the lives of these gorgeous young women as they step into the next stage of their lives. Over the last couple of months we have all become very fond of each other as we have spent a day, and sometimes more, together each week.

During the afternoon each girl spoke

 about her time at Suubi 

and what she had learned. 

With two days' notice I spoke from Psalm 119 about keeping God and His word at the centre of their lives. Miriam translated. The tailoring teacher and the house mother also spoke.

The young lady who gave the graduate speech did a fabulous job untutored.

After the speeches we all cut the cake together. Nice cake!

It was very special to share this occasion with the Suubi girls.

.

 They were justifiably proud

of themselves

and their achievements.

After the formalities were complete, we were all ushered to the front of the building where each graduate was given a sewing machine to begin her new business. These  gifts were made possible by the generosity of people in Australia who responded to one of my blog posts in June,

but that's a story for another day.

The girls had no idea this was going to happen and were absolutely delighted.

One young lady didn't graduate. She's not made to be a tailor. She has other good gifts, one of which was on display when she gave the graduation speech from the heart, without notes and did an exceptional job. At the ceremony she also sang a great song which she had made up on her own. She is not going out with a sewing machine to begin a new tailoring business and of course she is disappointed. She has a desire to become a nursery school teacher and she would be great at it. How wonderful it would be if we were able to find sponsorship for her to study to do that. If that is something you would like to do please send me a personal email at justjane2010@gmail.com and I can connect you with YFC Uganda.

Through YFC the girls have been given a wonderful gift and opportunity to begin a new life for themselves and for their children.

I really like the work YFC is doing with young people in Uganda 

My neighbours in Kampala

Before I came to Uganda I wondered what it would be like living alone in Africa. In Rwanda in 2007 I was with Mal and in 2011 with Sue. 

I'm really pleased to say that it has been an extra bonus living alone. Because there is no-one at home I tend to visit more. And I think the neighbours visit me more because they don't really understand a person living on their own and maybe they feel sorry for me!

Whatever the case I have really enjoyed my experience of living alone in Africa this time round.

The shopowner across the road and I have become friends. His name is Martin. When I leave and return each day we greet each other.

  

Whenever I am purchasing something he gives me local prices plus extra peanuts or bananas or whatever I am buying.

 

One day he thought I looked tired and so he dusted off the bench out the front and suggested I sit for a while. I did.

  

Sometimes I buy something small just to interact with Martin. 

Today I bought a small packet of local chips for that very reason. 

He was pleased to see me because he had a gift for me. It was a HUGE avocado, perfect and ready to eat. Someone had given it to him and he had kept it especially for me because he knows I like them and buy them often. How cool is that!

In my building I have neighbours from a  number of different nations - Sudan, South Sudan, Malawai and Uganda. 

My Sudanese neighbours invited me to their Eid celebration at the end of Ramadan. As usual,  the women ate in the kitchen. They were such a lovely bunch of women.

 The following night it was their 4 year old's birthday party 

and I was included, of course.

In the unit beneath mine a new family has recently moved in and they are from Malawi. We have just begun to connect.

One Sunday afternoon recently I went to visit the neighbours downstairs. They are from Uganda and South Sudan. The only person home was 16 year old Joanne. She was watching the movie ‘The Life of Jesus Christ’. We watched it together and had a lot of fun trying to race each other to complete the scriptures that were part of the script. 

I have taken lots of photos of neighbours from my compound and they love it when I print them and give them when I visit. Often as I come in the gate now, the little ones come running and say: “You photo me”.

Perhaps some of those photos will be good for a blog post in the near future. 

The power has gone out again tonight and so I will finish this before my computer battery shuts down.

Teaching something new to our tailoring girls

I was given this quilted and zipped bag in Rwanda as a gift in 2011. 

I brought it with me to Uganda and have been using it constantly to carry all my crochet bits and pieces around. I realised that the girls learning tailoring at YFC's Suubi Home would be quite capable of making something similar. It is quilted, lined, has difficult square corners and a zip across the top

Step 1: Ask the girls if they were interested. It was a unanimous 'YES'

Step 2: Find all the materials needed to make the bags.

 Rose, their tailoring teacher, was willing to take me shopping. That was a wonderful and colourful cultural experience with one gorgeous woman and, believe it or not, I only took this one photo. Sorry!

Step 3: Make a sample bag so that I knew what I was teaching the girls. That was interesting. I'm not a treadle sewing machine user by any stretch of the imagination, and when the machines are not in great working order its an even bigger challenge. But with plenty of help I was ready to go on Wednesday.

Step 4: Make bags with girls.

First cutting out the fabric, the lining and the foam wadding, 

then stitching,

pinning,

waiting for a machine, (only two in semi-working order)

sometimes needing a bit of help from Jajja (grandmother) Jane,

more sewing

until the beautiful bags are complete and its time to show them off.

What a great job these girls did. They were so proud of themselves and I was proud of them too!

Because the girls had enjoyed making the bags so much and were keen to make more, and because I thought these could be a good income earner, I asked Rose to purchase more lining, zips and wadding. They already had scraps they could use for the outer fabrics.

And so they went crazy

and look what they made!

 Even Rose was pleased to model one.

It was such a successful day and I think the girls now have another option for earning some money to support their little ones.