18th: (Special) Mothers Union Update

Thank you to Clair for writing this blog!

On Sunday afternoon after a visit to the local cathedral part of the group had the chance to have lunch at the Dean's house with the ladies from MU and watsan, then Sarah and I walked to the bottom of the cathedral hill to the MU compound.

This is a larger area on the hill side,  at the front is a shop which sells their wares, mostly made on site along with the MU administration office where they employ Rosalind coordinate the training centre. The other part of this building is 2 training rooms and a classroom. There sewing using treadle singers are used along with knitting machines to teach dress making and hairdressing  to girls who have dropped out of school, for various reasons, so have no qualifications to support themselves. The MU gives them a course for free as a boarding school. During these 3 terms, they live and eventually take an exam; the term is the beginning of Feb to end November.

Watsan has supported them in the past, building a toilet block and rain water catchment systems. There is a big function room at the back which is rented out. They showed us at the top of the compound the wooden building currently used for teaching home economics in, the rest is brick. They also plan for some of the front garden to be used to lean gardening to go with the home economics,  grow then cook it.

St Peter's BW had a 2 week fundraising collection and raised £1020 which covers the building replacement. This means that the 1st women's conference 3 day weekend next week for a thousand women will be able to be better supported by them as a reserve for the long term project won't be required. We gave material and thread to them and they gave us the MU material, they will make me a dress before we leave, Sarah kept her material for st Peter's instead as she's not linked to MU.

They were so happy and will stay in touch to keep us abreast of the development.

We then join with the other 4 who went to see some WATSAN projects at the primary school by the cathedral and visited a protected spring. Whilst there a lady came to collect water in a 20kg & a 10kg jerry cans. Lydia lifted them a little way up the hill but they were difficult to grip without spilling so put them down,  the lady picked them up and almost ran up the hill to the road!

Back to the house of good hope for a quiet time before dinner. After I waz talking to Ruth, finding that families in Uganda have very similar problems as in the UK,  lack of availability of good jobs and those who don't want to work.  How both our mothers didn't have to work to  ensure the family had the  basic, their work added the luxury whereas now it is towards the basics.