We are very pleased to report that our first project to bring women from rural areas to Kampala for training has been successfully completed. We are very grateful to the Canning Trust for giving us the grant that made this possible.

2020 was a challenging year for us and our students. Having recruited women from the Jinja area of Eastern Uganda and seen them settled at the Namasuba College of Commerce in Kampala in January 2020 we had to suspend training in March due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The women returned to their villages and were struggling to feed themselves and their families. Some started using the skills they’d learned and made masks to sell in their local area to get some money. They were all delighted and relieved to return to training when the college reopened in October.

At the end of April 2021 the women completed their training and returned home to an emotional reception in their villages. During their training they’ve saved enough money to buy their sewing machines and have already hired premises near their home where they can work.

We will be holding a Facebook Live on Monday 21st June at 8pm BST to report on the success of the project and outline our plans for the future. The live can be accessed via Facebbook.

We will also be posting photos of the women’s graduation and their return home every day next week on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.