Visiting Justine

Justine lives in very modest housing, in fact the other side of this mud and wattle house has been washed away by the rains, and you can see the great outside through it. And her sewing machine is just inside the door. With her earnings, like many of the other ladies, she bought a chair to use at the machine. Justine has 5 children, and she has put her eldest daughter through tailoring school, and built another very small house for her eldest son to live in. Her eldest son was sponsored in a mechanics training course, and did very well, but now has to come up with almost a million shilllings (close to $600) for all the tools and equipment he needs to begin working. It sometimes seems that obstacle after obstacle faces these women. But Justine remains happy and hopeful.

Justine and her son, Aron

Justine is the last member of the Bitenge Designers group for you to meet. By the way, Bitenge Designsers is the name the group has given to itself - bitenge is the plural of kitenge, and refers to the cloth that is being combined in making placemats, cushion-covers and wallhangings. Justine is 40, has been a widow since 2001, and has 6 children, aged 8 to 18. Aron is her eldest son, and is receiving training to become a mechanic in Mbarara. He was short on fees for this term, and Kitambaa was able to help with the short-fall, meaning that he is now able to continue with this education. Justine is from Rubingo, where she is involved in basket weaving and the community garden. She is a lovely, gentle person, and is so happy to be sewing. She has taken to it like a duck to water, and her products are getting better and better all the time.
We now only have two days left before the women leave for their villages on Saturday morning. Three weeks has gone by incredibly fast, and each day (barring Sunday) has been full. Now it's time to tie up the loose ends, to ensure that the women know what to do with the money they have already earned - what will go to more fabric, what will go in the bank in savings, and what will be kept by them for their own households. Eight of the twelve have neither a stool or chair to sit in at the sewing machine, nor a table on which to cut and iron. So some funds will have to go towards these purchases initially. None had previously had an iron - we've now purchased one for each woman. They tell us they will fill it with coal from the cooking fire. These and other specifics will have to be worked out today and tomorrow. Meanwhile, Joan and I are filling our totes ready to bring their products back to Canada with us. Two are already full. Thank you to all those who have already indicated that you'd like to make purchases from us! We will post the specific items on our website as soon as we're home again.