Posted by: Jan on May 31, 2009
Categories: Events // There are 3 comments already...
On Tuesday, June 23, the annual Tanzanian Trunk Show in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin will be raising funds to support the AIDS Orphan Sewing Project in Bukoba, Tanzania.
There are many of you who are reading this post who won’t be able to make it there in person. However, your spirit of caring and compassion for the other members of your universal family are felt and understood with every donation that comes in to support this cause.
I am hoping to raise at least $100 from around the world through PayPal donations in an account designated for the AIDS Orphan Sewing Project. These funds are legally identified for a not-for-profit organization so your donations are 100% tax deductible in the USA.
At the end of Tuesday, June 22nd, I’ll have a cashier draw out the donations received. The next day at the fundraiser, I’ll present that check in your behalf to Sister Stella who is our USA liaison to the AIDS Orphan Sewing Project in Tanzania.
What began as a suggestion for a sewing cooperative evolved into a three-year school called “Empowering Women’s Future: The AIDS Orphan Sewing Project.” The Sewing Project is part of a much larger ministry to AIDS orphans called St. Maria Goretti Organization, which is recognized as a Tanzanian not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization. It provides assistance to AIDS orphans by paying school fees, giving money for food, buying school uniforms, and other services.
Many of the girls who come to the Sewing Project walk one to two hours each way — and one girl walks three hours. The sisters are looking to place her with a family closer and then give money to the family for her upkeep. The girls, most of whom are 15 to 20 years old, are willing to do this for three years in order to learn the basics of sewing, and, ultimately, to become tailors.
They have no work tables for laying out their fabric and learning their beginning stitches or cutting their patterns before using the sewing machines. Students work on the cement floors.During this training program, students are encouraged to bring to class orders from their village customers and to work on the clothing under the supervision of the instructor.
Upon graduation, they are given a sewing machine so they are fully independent. The first three graduates staff a store in town that sells their dresses and nightgowns. Occasionally, they receive a contract from the government to sew uniforms for children going to school.
One of the major motivations for these girls to diligently study in the Sewing Project and to graduate is the prospect of creating an income to buy food for their family and to help educate their siblings.
Through the Sewing Project, more than thirty girls in their teens or early 20s now have a chance for a modest existence.
Here’s how you can help. Follow this link to the secure online PayPal site and make any donation you can afford to give. No amount is too small. Then ask your family and friends to go and make a donation. If 100 people each send $1.00 by June 22nd, we will have reached our goal.
Read the complete story of the AIDS Orphan Sewing Project.
Make a secure donation online through PayPal to the AIDS Orphan Sewing Project. Then come back to this post and check the comments to see how close we are getting to our $100 goal.
Thanks so much for sharing your care, concern, and compassion.
Janice M. Puta
Spiritual Teacher and Energy Practitioner
Author of Pathways: Tales for the Spiritual Seeker