Tailoring

Our Next Graduation Is Almost Here!

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Mildred, above, is still our youngest graduate. She was 12 when she started Skills for Life in Tailoring, and 13 when she graduated. Her family was so impressed with her that they all pitched in to buy her a pedal-powered sewing machine – a big investment for a family in the slum. She was also offered a place at a school!

Now she attends school and makes money in her off-time to help support her family.

This is what it’s about — Mildred’s LIFE was changed, her family’s CULTURE was changed, and Mildred has a SUSTAINABLE way to create income for the rest of her life.

The graduation for Term 2 of Skills for Life, including the first Literacy Class, and Advanced Tailoring (which runs on a slightly different schedule since it’s longer) will be happening on October 1.

This is a really big deal!

We made our own caps and gowns, because it’s a really big deal.

We have a big party with cake and guest speakers, because it’s a really big deal.

We have them walk up by name to receive their certificates, because it’s a really big deal.

These are girls that no one has ever celebrated. No one has ever expected them to “amount to anything” except to repeat the cycle their own mothers were cast into.

But we celebrate them, and we know you do, too. Because honestly, it’s just a really really big deal.

Thank you for supporting us in all the ways that make days like this possible. We can’t thank you enough!

Webele nyo,

Jennings

PS We have a project up to help us pull off graduation. We have 35 girls graduating this time around, a record!! If you’d like to contribute — any amount at all helps! — 100% goes to the project. Just click the button!

Graduation Rocks!

A Week of Fun!

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When I was a teen, school months seemed to drag on and on, and summer flew by. Other than getting to go back-to-school shopping with my grandmother, I didn’t find a whole lot to be excited about! (Especially since my bus came at 6:45 and we ate lunch at 10:30!)

I’m pretty sure I never looked like Justine does in this photo!

It’s hard to overstate the danger that teen girls face in the slum: starvation, rape, trafficking, sex work, pregnancy, lack of access to education. In short, they all feel hopeless and trapped in the cycle that they see all around them every day. Even their mothers will encourage them into sex work to “contribute to the family.”

We opened the Ross House to help address teenage pregnancy and its challenges. Skills for Life addresses hopelessness.

Culture is changed one life at a time. Our focus is holistic — we don’t just teach a skill, or just provide a meal, or just take in a homeless teen mom.

  • We teach literacy to those who can’t read, write, or do basic math.
  • We teach English speaking — believe it or not, English is the official language of Uganda. But it’s taught in schools. No school = no English.
  • We address trauma through counseling and peer groups.
  • We provide support through mentoring and teacher engagement.
  • We do home visits to identify family issues early.
  • We provide food and a safe space for girls to hang out, off of the streets.
  • And we teach skills for sustainable self-sufficiency.

We don’t do the easy, high-number, flashy stuff. We do the real, long, hard work to create change, for these girls and for their children and families.

In Uganda, women can’t inherit land. We are giving them a legacy that no one can keep them from passing on.

Thank you for your amazing support and encouragement. We couldn’t do it without you!

Webele nyo!

Jennings

PS We always have a lot of great projects up on DonorSee. We now also have sponsorship opportunities, where you can support us monthly. Two are up right now, for the clinic and for the residential program. Click to check them out!

Sponsor the Haven Clinic

Sponsor the Residential Program

Skills for Life Term 3 is Underway!

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Monday was the big day!

20 girls in Literacy, 10 in both Hairdressing and Tailoring, the 5 finishing up exams in Advanced Tailoring, the new Literacy class, and some of last term’s Literacy girls in the computer lab. Over 65 in all!

After a month off, the teachers were ready, and the girls were at the gate early.

Touch the Slum has become a hub, a home, a hangout for our teen moms and teen girls.

A safe place out of the Namuwongo slum and its challenges and temptations.

A place of HOPE and OPPORTUNITY.

Those are very, very few in Uganda in general these days, much less in the slum.

This week, Ronald posted a reel on Instagram of girls who have graduated from the Literacy class doing orientation in the computer lab. Someone commented that “they need more than ‘computer skills’. What other non-digital skills are they being taught? The internet is a fictional place full of delusion and requires electricity… when the screens turn off indefinitely what else will they have to fall back on?”

For you, and anyone who actually follows us, the answer is pretty clear – we post all the time about all what/how/why of our vocational program. And the fact that these girls, who were ILLITERATE in January, are actually able to learn to use a computer is nothing short of amazing.

But the positive of the comment is that we can say, “YES!” We believe in holistic literacy. We believe in vocational training. We believe in sustainability and self-sufficiency – whether the internet goes down forever or not!

Thanks to YOU, this vision is a reality, not a dream. We can’t thank you enough for your support…

Webele nyo!

Jennings

PS If you want to make sure that the girls aren’t left with “nothing to fall back on” when the internet goes down forever, you can help us with supplies for Skills for Life! Just click!

For life after the internet

Term 3 of Skills for Life Starts Monday!

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This week is the end of our first-ever term break. Normally, we end one term on Friday and start orientation the next Monday!

There were a lot of reasons for the break this time, but rising food costs are the number one. It seems like every month we look at the food budget and try to figure out what we can cut or reduce or substitute while still offering a daily meal to all the students — often the only one they get in a day.

Today it was, “Can we cut back on rice and do more posho? How about cutting g nuts and doing more cowpeas?” We try to make sure that the girls are getting a complete protein, and there are foods like silverfish that we need to have for our nursing residential teen moms. Of course, we’d like to offer more variety and fresh fruits and vegetables than we can until the farm starts producing.

Skills for Life is FREE to our students, and that’s not going to change. We provide the instruction, the materials and supplies, and other support that’s needed. Completely free.

But none of it is free to us!

If you’ve been thinking about making a donation and haven’t yet, now is the time! We’ve got some great projects on DonorSee for supplies, medical care, and more. You can also make a donation on Donorbox in any amount, or sign up to be a monthly donor. We use 100% of your donations (minus processing fees unless you donate those as well) on the project, always!

The buttons are below — we so appreciate your support!

Webele nyo,

Jennings

DonorSee Projects Here!

Donorbox Donations – any amount!

WHAT’S NEXT IN SKILLS FOR LIFE?

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17-year-old Vivian, above, designed and created this amazing outfit for her final project in Tailoring last year. That was just before the June 2021 lockdown.

After the lockdown happened, Vivian had a very difficult time coping, and, for her and a few other girls, we re-launched the Ndoto Cooperative. This gave them a small salary, a place to come every day, and the freedom to design and create items to sell in local shops.

Now that the lockdowns are over and Term 1 2022 is underway, we are FINALLY ready to launch an Advanced Tailoring class for girls like Vivian who really have a flair for fashion and design. Our new teacher, Martha, is a professional seamstress, and she is very excited to be spending the next 6 months with such talented teens.

We don’t have an exact date that we’ll start yet, but we are aiming for the middle of March. We have purchased the final 2 electric machines and all the materials and supplies that are needed. Martha is designing a completely new curriculum. The girls are having an orientation and conversations with Marth on what they want to learn to do.

We are SO pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to 5 or 6 girls who have waited and hoped for months! I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot about it in the coming year – and make sure to check out our social media for great photos and updates.

Thank you for your support – these kinds of opportunities are really and truly changing lives.

Blessings,

Jennings

PS If you want to help with our vocational program, we have several projects up on DonorSee to purchase supplies. Just click the button below! Webele nyo!

SHOW ME THE PROJECTS!