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St. Monica's Tailoring Co-op
Sub-Saharan Africa
St. Monica's Tailoring Co-op
Project Overview:
St. Monica’s Tailoring Coop (Gulu, UGANDA) is a vocational training school which was started by Italian Missionary Sisters (Comboni Sisters) in 1995 in Gulu town in Northern Uganda. The Comboni Sisters ran the school, trained women and girls in tailoring with specialization in making and cuting dresses, and in home management.
In the year 2000 the Comboni Sisters passed on the ownership/management of the Centre to the Archdiocese of Gulu who in turn entrusted the management of the same to the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a local congregation of sisters who came and settled in Uganda from Sudan as a result of the Southern Sudan war.
Recent Accomplishments:
Provision of Vocational training in:
Tailoring and design
Vegetable gardening
Home management and catering
Computer typing course
Secretarial and business skills course
Basic literacy and numeracy classes
Provision of child day care facilities for students
Provision of psycho social care for women and children who have experienced violence and abuse pre- and post- conflict
Number of People Directly Served by Project:
240 girls and women participate in secondary education and vocational training
Number of People Indirectly Served by Project:
Children of the women and girls
Goals for 2010:
HIV/AIDS counseling for girls at the centre and people around the centre
Provide job opportunity and continue training
Refresher courses for students who finished from the centre
Secure more funds for expanding income generating activities for the girls
Hostel for people who come from far to visit the centre or other humanitarian agencies in Gulu.
IPM Funding Goal for 2010:
$2500
Community Impact:
Evelyn was born in 1982 in Atiak, Amurur District. She was abducted on the way home from school at the age of 12 by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA). She and the other abductees were forced to walk for three days to Southern Sudan. If they complained of fatigue they could be shot. In Sudan she was trained and given a gun. She was also given to the Army Commander, Joseph Kony, as one of his wives. She conceived 3 children while in captivity. She escaped from captivity with 2 of her children (one was lost in the bush while escaping) and arrived in Uganda a week later.
Today she has completed 2 years of training at St. Monica in tailoring. She is working on the Moon Project and selling avocados to earn a living. She would like to get a tailoring machine so she can continue to improve her skills. She is hoping to give her children a better education and purchase a home so she no longer has to pay rent.