Women in the slums of Uganda are learning a skilled trade so that they can provide for the daily living needs of their children. Sharing one sewing machine and a few sewing notions that were so generously donated, they worked hard to raise most of the funds needed to pay their teacher. Currently in the midst of a 3-month tailoring program, these dedicated women have a renewed sense of hope about God as the giver of gifts and talents as well as about what their future might hold.
We developed a strategic plan that empowers these women to lift themselves out of poverty. Here’s how the plan works. A talented designer created a simple girls’ dress pattern in four sizes - baby, small, medium, and large. The pattern is unique and simple, a great pattern for beginner seamstresses, a practical pattern for the girls who will wear the dresses, an affordable dress even by East African standards. More than 40 dresses have been made using fabric and notions that you donated and these dresses are in need of sponsorship. Here’s where you come in.
1. Choose a specific dress to sponsor. I’ll deliver the dress to a Ugandan girl in need. Watch the blog for the story about the girl who received the dress you sponsored.
2. The money used to sponsor the dress will purchase start up sewing materials (scissors, measuring tape, pins, and a yard or two of fabric) for one newly graduated seamstress. You can even watch more about your impact on her life in the blog too. Please note that when we get sponsorship for more dresses than graduates, we’ll use the funds to purchase another sewing machine.
3. The seamstress will use the dress pattern and start up materials to make more dresses. She will use the business skills we learned together to sell those dresses in the right place for the right price. I’ll help guide the women a little along the way.
4. The money earned from selling her dresses will provide a small income for the family as well as purchase the needed materials to make more dresses.
One great aspect of this plan is that these dresses are the perfect style for East African girls, affordable for East African parents, made nowhere else, and makeable by East African seamstresses. The plan creates a situation whereby, once the initial materials are provided, the seamstresses can become financially self-reliant.
Would you like to empower women by offering the hope of work? Choose a dress, make a donation of $25.00, and watch the lives of whole families change.
Click here and press the one-time donation button to make a tax-deductible donation through PayPal or by credit card. Or mail your check to:
Surprised by Hope
464 Adaway SE
Ada, MI 49301
Dress Options
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| Size Baby: Baby to early toddler |
Baby 2: Baby blue check (Sample for KOWH)
Baby 3: Baby blue plaid
Baby 4: Plain baby blue
Baby 5: Navy blue stripe (Donna)
Baby 6: Kelly green check (Leanne)
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| Size Baby: These dresses are made by Judy. Judy is my momma. She designed these dress patterns and perfected them for simplicity just for the Konoweka ladies and East Africa girlies. |
Baby 8: Modern print (Amy)
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| Size Small: Walking to maybe 3 years old |
Small 2: Baby blue check (Donna)
Small 3: Navy blue stripe
Small 4: Polka dot (3) (1 Amy)
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| Size Small: 3 to 5 years old |
Small 6: Plain pink (Lucy)
Small 7: Red (2) (Jill)
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| Size Small: Judy-made dresses using materials entirely donated by her Bible study group. |
Small 8: Pink plaid
Small 9: Green Christmassy (Clover)
Small 10: Neutral print
Small 11: Tiny flower
Small 12: Blue flower (Heidi)
Small 12: Blue flower (Heidi)
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| Size Medium: 3 to 5 years old |
Medium 2: Pink searsucker (Schumpert Family)
Medium 3: Plain pink (Maddie)
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| Size Medium: 3 to 5 years old |
Medium 5: Blue with fine stripe (Sarah)
Medium 6: Blue plaid
Medium 7: African print (Ashley)
Medium 8: Blue flower  |
| Size Medium: Judy-made dresses. Same story. So cute! |
(Dr. Debbie)
Medium 9: Blue flower (2) (1 Jack)
Medium 10: Blue stripe
Medium 11: Blue polka dot (Katie)
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| Size Medium: Judy-made dresses. |
Medium 13: Pink flower
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| Size Large: 6 to 10 years old |
Large 2: Blue plaid (Linda)
Large 3: Blue with fine stripe (Sharon)
