Big news about special women at Congo Restoration
2. Update on our “COVID class”: Our last class graduated in December after a long year of COVID delays. And they hit the ground running. Upon graduation, each student receives a shared sewing machine with one other student and a sewing kit of tools they will need to start their own business. We were able to give them the sewing machines at their December graduation but, because of COVID, are just now able to get their sewing kits ready for them (as they are made in the United States). But that did not stop them from becoming local entrepreneurs. The class of 40 divided into a few groups to start businesses so they can support each other. Here is a photo of one such group. They make us proud every single day.
You can fund one of their sewing kits for $25 here.
3. Meet Kindja: Our new class of sewing school students started classes in February. Let me introduce you to one of them. Kindja is 19 years old and comes from a family of seven children. She was never able to go to school because she was helping care for her younger siblings. When she was 16, her mother died in childbirth with the last baby. As is the cultural norm, Kindja became mother to the baby and her other siblings. As her youngest sibling turned 3, she began thinking about her possible paths to an education. That’s when she applied to our sewing school. “She decided to learn sewing because she truly believes that is the only way to overcome poverty,” Mama Gorethy says about her. We are excited to have her among our newest class of 40 sewing school students.
If you’d like to support our December graduates by funding one of their sewing kits for $25, here’s how. I am biased, of course, but I can’t think of a better way to honor and celebrate International Women’s Day.
Endless thanks for helping us do what we do. I hope you enjoy this special day.
