The ladies anxiously awaited our arrival. The big day
finally came when Vickie (from VKids Trust Uganda) and I would celebrate their
graduation from tailoring and entrepreneurship classes. Though two of the graduates
were unable to attend as they were caring for sick children and the tailoring
teacher was in the hospital as she developed an infection post c-section
delivery. Lots of prayers were sent their way before we moved on to recapping
our learning time together.
Encouraging these ladies was and will continue to be an
integral part of this group’s needs. Ugandan women, particularly women from the
village, are culturally mandated to have a lower place in society and so
encouraging them – not to have a place higher than their husbands, but to see
themselves as precious daughters of their heavenly Father – will be an ongoing
need. Once they realize their position with the Father, they will have the
confidence they need to boldly build their businesses and contribute to their
families, communities, and to the body of Christ.
We reviewed the entrepreneurship materials along with the
documents I left behind for them to study and use for refreshing later. We
answered questions and I did all I could to impart last bits of knowledge to
them. Now we all need to pray for them…daily. This group is a bit different
than any other I’ve worked with and so they warrant special prayers from the
100 Christmas Dollies sponsors.
Each woman was given fabric and notions from which to make
her first dress. That dress will be worn when she moves around the community to
talk about and display her new tailoring skills. The ladies are walking
marketing products. They were asked to wear their new dresses to graduation and
as you can see they are looking beautiful!
After handing out certificates of completion, we joined
hands and prayed for one another and for those who were missing. We called down
God’s abundant blessing on their efforts to establish themselves and to hone
their skills. Closure…sniffle. Of course I’ll return to visit and refresh with
these ladies and I love to send them out of the nest, but I’ll miss our twice
weekly teaching and fellowship time together.
Thank you to every one of the 100 Christmas Dolly MAKERS and
SPONSORS for making this almost year-long project possible. And thank you Jesus
for loving us all enough to join our hearts together in glorifying you with the
work of our hands.
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| One of the practice dresses walking around the village. Lots more around this place, great way to practice! |