Showing posts with label Kakira. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kakira. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Girly Dresses in Prison

A quick visit of encouragement to the men of Bugembe Prison and they were eager to show me the progress they’d made in making girly dresses using the pattern my maama made. This is the same pattern the Konoweka ladies have and could be using, so comparing their efforts and their skills was valuable. What did I find? Two adorable girly dresses, using fabric donated by the Caring and Sharing women in Florida, almost perfectly made. The single stitch that joins the dress is tricky but they did an excellent job. The pattern is simple and the instructions are straightforward but comprehension is sometimes challenging because we just do things differently. What to do with these dresses? Let’s give them to the maama prisoners for their babies. All the men cheered! I’ll be exited to arrive and see a baby wearing the dress. Your dress sponsorship helps provide the supplies to keep these tailoring programs going while students learn. If you'd like to check out the girly dresses availaable for sponsorship, click here.

Kakira prisoners stand in readiness to begin their training program. This prison is smaller than Bugembe and so the pool of teachers is also smaller. This means that the tailor who was here, and who was intended to teach tailoring is no longer in prison. We wait for the next arrival, although we try not to wait anxiously. The cobra and shoeshine work, though proceeds with the guards and leaders thankful for the investment in their school of misunderstanding.

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Kakria Prison Launches Skills Development Training

Word traveled fast and Kakira Prison leaders are asking for a training program like that of Bugembe Prison. We’ve visited there a few times and each time I came away feeling as though we ought to start this program. Although I did not visit Kakira this time, I did leave funds with Carpenter John to purchase a sewing machine and the supplies needed as well as money for the supplies needed to begin cobra training. This smaller prison will be well-equipped, now, to begin in the same way as Bugembe. I look forward to seeing how they are progressing when I return in June. Carpenter John keeps adding to his wish list…next, he says, he wants to start a skills training program for women in Iganga Prison. There is no end to the work that man does for the Lord!

Carpenter John displays the new machine he purchased.

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Friday, February 3, 2012

Kakira Prison

Carpenter John has been invited to serve as chaplain to many prisons in the Jinja area but his time is only so expansive. This man gets paid nothing but spends almost all day almost every day ministering in some way. His family struggles for food and education but he continues to serve God in a very faithful way.

Kakira Prison, like Bugembe Prison, is for short term sentences and our second visit allowed us to gift every prisoner with a Bible. I spoke about the fact that the Bible is a love story and that God’s love continues in the living Hope from 1 Peter 1:3-4. John translated into Luganda and then another man translated into Kiswahili. Sometimes I forgot to wait for the third translation but I think they got the point.

Our hope is to expand the skills development training modeled in Bugembe Prison to Kakira Prison so we asked the prisoners about their certificates and other skills. Again, tailor, cobra, and shoe shine rose to the top. Our hope now is to provide this prison group with the supplies needed to begin the training program. They’ve heard about the success of the Bugembe program and are thankful and excited about what could happen in their little prison as well.
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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Kakira Prison

Kakira Sugar is one of the most popular brand names in Uganda and I recently learned that the name is simply based on location. Apparently Kakira is the name of a town here. Kakira Prison is no different…named after the town.

Carpenter John was invited to be involved with Kakira Prison the same way he is with Bugembe Prison but the dates and times conflicted. As a result, Pastor Emmanuel serves as chaplain there and the two men remain partners in their efforts to minister to the people in prison.

A short introductory visit there allowed me to deliver a few Bibles as well as to talk for a few brief moments about having hope. We stood on the “porch” – a ledge wide enough to hold a small handful of men – during this introduction. Carpenter John and Emmanuel have hope that we’ll be able to start skills development training in this prison like the program in Bugembe Prison.

Please praise God with me for what he will do in Kakira Prison to help the prisoners learn skills that transform them into productive members of their community, their country, and the body of Christ.
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