“I had no interest in working in Uganda until I learned about the sewing programs that several African grass-roots organizations have started. Fount of Mercy supports many orphanages which are teaching the women who live in the community to sew. Their hope is to be able to earn income for their large families. Suddenly, I had purpose for going. I realized that I can use the creative skills I have to help these women. Many of them are sick, abandoned, or widowed. Having new skills and resources gives them a clear way to earn money, something that is very unstable in their lives. Meeting them and finding this commonality was amazing. Sewing is truly a universal skill, one which I use to make a living, and one which can help empower women in Africa to make a living also. We often think about humanitarian efforts being done by doctors, nurses, teachers, builders, ect., but really we all have a way to help, especially in our creative industries.”
Tara Hawks, Director of Sewing Hope
Sewing Hope, a project of Fount of Mercy, supports tailoring programs within African grassroots organizations by providing technical training and financial assistance; empowering individuals with the skills necessary to earn an income and support their communities.
An often-overlooked result of the AIDS crisis in Africa is the loss of income a partner provides to a household and what happens to that household as a result. Widows are left to care for their own children, and the children of family members who have died. The problem begins to compound itself when one considers that primary and secondary education in Uganda, unlike here in the United States, is not free. As a result, villagers tend to have little to no formal education, and virtually no technical training or employable skills, leaving them with few options for earning a living. Orphanages have become heavily burdened as single parent homes resort to sending children away in hopes that they will have food, clothing, and shelter that the family can no longer provide.
When Fount of Mercy began partnering with these organizations, in 2006, they found the overwhelming desire was to be self-reliant, as individuals and as organizations. Sewing Hope was created to provide vocational training, a real and practical way to achieve this goal. We have teamed up with a handful of these groups to guide them towards independence.
