The Kayhega Women's Group are part of one of our feeding programs in the
Kakamega area. We are excited about the start of this Sewing Project will help these woman become self sufficient and to be able to provide a living
for themselves and their relatives.
As an extra benefit from this project, the profits made on the sale of the
jackets we purchased to bring back, will help to train another young girl to
become a seamstress. We have chosen Phylis to be the first recipient of this
project. Phylis is a hardworking and cheerful girl of 20 who often assists Susan
and Sr. Agnes at the Feeding Program each month in Kayhega.
Phylis is seen here with her grandmother Anastancia. Her grandmother is 93 years
old and the sole support for her 11 grandchildren. Anastancia's 4 adult children
have died of AIDS . Philys is the eldest and she takes care of them all. She had
been enrolled in a seamstress course but had to drop out due to lack of funds
and the need to care for the others. With this training she will be better able
to provide for the many who depend on her.
Suitcases for Africa purchased 4 new sewing machines to help the women begin
their business. They sew in shifts around the clock. Above our driver John is
seen loading the sewing machines into the van after searching to find them for
purchase.
A generous donor in Canada funded the purchase of the first batch of material
for the group to begin their jackets. We had a few enjoyable days joining them
in various markets as they searched for just the right material.
The jackets are reversible and require some hand stitching seen above. The women
learned this technique from a course taught by another N.G.O. in Kenya.
The women sewed busily during our time there and
made 37 jackets to start the project.
The jackets have two different sides ,made with colourful ethnic
prints from Uganda. On one side each jacket has a saying in Kiswahili such
as..." I have nothing to give you but my prayer for peace "
They are also using all the colourful scraps to make "crazy
quilt " duvet covers which will also be for sale in future. They are all top
stitched by hand with colourful yarn.
