Justina, Knight and Sheilla

As in the first two years, several of the Bitengye women needed medical attention while they were attending the workshop. Justina was first to come to our attention. This 47 year old mother of six children, had spent all her earnings last year on food for her family, the needs of the 6 families of relatives who live nearby to her and come to her regularly for assistance, and had neglected her own health. When she saw the doctor at the clinic, he prescribed an amazing 6 different medications for her rampant infection. She was feeling a lot better by the end of the workshop, and hopes she will have enough earnings this year to continue
work on a new house for herself. "One by one makes a bundle", she told me. Knight and Dorothy both needed glasses prescribed this year. And Knight needed ongoing treatment for her congestive heart failure, first diagnosed when we were here last year. As for Sheilla, at 24 she is still the youngest
member of the group, and in much better health than last year. She has realized the importance of taking her HIV medication every day, and feels better for it - an important thing as the mother of two small children. Every day she came early to the workshop, to sweep up the floor from the previous days' scraps and to light the charcoal fire for the irons, and if there was time, to get a head start on her sewing for that day. What I find staggering, is how women have to put up with ill health - they simply suffer and continue working, through ailments that are really grim. I wonder if providing ongoing medical care should be a part of the Kitambaa Sewing Project, to make sure that each of these women gets the care they need in a timely way, year round . . . I think so.

The Workshop Comes to an End

The workshop for the Bitengye Designers came to a most successful end on Wednesday. Certificates were presented to all the women, and a draw made for some extra prizes. But the highlight of the day was showing Alice one of the two donated Featherweight sewing machines that she will take back to Rubingo with her. She was so excited! She already has plans to have solar power installed, and will be able to connect the sewing machines once the solar power is in place. The second machine didn't fit into our luggage this time, but will go to Uganda and to Alice the next time someone has a little extra space in their luggage. Then on Thursday the women packed
themselves and their luggage, sardine-style, into the "specials", booked to take them home to their villages. There were lots and lots of tears, probably because we told the ladies that we will likely not be back in Uganda until two years from now. Alice assured me that these were happy tears, not sad tears, but I think there was a bit of both. We told them we would not forget them, that we'd tell their story and sell the items they make wherever we can. It's a bitter-sweet thing to have them so independent now, and under Alice's capable leadership. We couldn't be more proud of all they've learned and the distance they've travelled over the two years
and three workshops we've conducted. But now it's time for us to withdraw a little, to let them fly on their own. I will continue to write about their individual stories, and of some of the things that have come out of our time here in Uganda, but in the meantime, I want you to know just how much your support of these women has meant to them. Their lives and the lives of their families have been improved so much. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

Safe Spot for a Seam Ripper

Where to put a seam ripper when it's not in use? In your hair of course. I've seen some of the women store their pins in their hair as well, although they're not always as easy to remove. Those who have had their hair braided with "extensions" do not have this same handy spot for storage, although their various hairstyles are amazing. Today is Sunday, the one day when the Bitengye ladies do not come over to Canada House. We will walk up the hill to the Cathedral for the English service shortly, then spend a day catching up on a little rest, before beginning the third and final week of the workshop. Time has flown by, and there is much that we would still like to teach the ladies. Instead we are teaching more designs to Alice, and she will teach them these designs through the coming year, when they are ready for them.

Knight and Nightingale

Friday and Saturday were both workshop days, and the hum of treadle sewing machines was steady from eight thirty in the morning until five thirty in the evening. The ladies completed six table cloths with borders and cloth backing. This was their first experience of putting blocks together into a whole quilt top, and they rose to the challenge admirably. Quarter-inch seams are still occasionally in need of correction, but the women were quite willing to take out any errors and correct them, in order to end up with a "high quality" product. Here I am showing Knight those places that need to be re-done, while Nightingale translates for me.

At Knight's home

Knight also lives in Rubingo, and we visited her in her tiny place, where she lives with all five of her children, and one grandchild. She was thrilled to show us the bed, mattress, and bedding she has bought with her earnings, even lounging on it to show us how comfortable it is. She has also had some bricks made, and hopes to be able to add onto her house in the next year, as well as to be to buy beds for her children, so that they can all sleep under mosquito netting. "It's hard to attach the netting to a mat," she told us. Knight served us fresh pineapple and kabalagala bananas and African tea, called chai. This is really hot milk with a little tea in it. All the women in the Rubingo area tell me that having Alice nearby is what has helped them most over the last year, that she has helped them solve any problems they have. When I asked Alice if she would like to continue as the Coordinator of the group, the others refused to let her say anything but "yes"!

Knight, Maudah and Tumushabe

Here is Knight, ironing her placemat. We've become used to lighting the charcoal fire each morning, so that the irons can be filled first thing. Many women have never used an iron before, and we have never used this variety, so lots of learning is being done by all. Knight is a widow from Rubingo. She's 41 years old and has 5 children whom she has been raising on her own since 1993. She is involved in gardening and making mats. She's an active memberof the widows' group in her area. Her biggest concern at the moment is her eldest son, Isaac (18), who is too old to go on to secondary school and who would like to become a mechanic.
Tumushabe and Maudah were the first two to finish their sets of four placemats. Once their mats had passed inspection, I pinned them together and wrote their names in the book in which I am recording all completed projects and the amount they will be paid for each. There was great excitement the first time this happened - clapping and whooping and singing. And the demand that their photograph be taken. Now there are at least a dozen sets of these placemats packed into one of the totes we will be taking home with us - not all perfect, but pretty impressive for first time attempts. Today one group has moved on to making huts, which will be pieced together as wallhangings.
Others are still perfecting their mat-making skills, but no-one is giving up, and those who are farther ahead are helping out those who are having a little difficulty.