Rapprochement: Stitching Futures in Goma

Working in communities such as Goma means being prepared to adapt when circumstances change. The ability to shift priorities quickly is essential to ensuring our work continues to meet the most urgent needs of the people we serve.

In this update, we'd like to share how the recent Ebola outbreak has temporarily shifted our focus, while also providing an update on the next phase of the Rapprochement: Stitching Futures project, which is ready to begin as soon as it is safe to do so.

Responding to the Ebola Outbreak

The recent Ebola outbreak in the Goma region has required us to temporarily pause the next phase of our tailoring workshops. While this was not the update we had hoped to share, the health and safety of the apprentices, the team at Remember Youth for Change, and the wider community must come first.

Rather than standing still, we've redirected our immediate efforts, along with Remember Youth for Change, to support the public health response. Thanks to our generous donor community, we are providing hand sanitation stations in villages surrounding Goma, helping families access basic hand hygiene as communities work together to contain the spread of this devastating disease.

Ready When It's Safe to Resume

Although the tailoring program is temporarily paused, preparations for the next phase are already complete.

As part of our commitment to sustainability and creative reuse, Business for Better Society recently received a generous donation of 40 king-size flat sheets from a major hotel in Lethbridge, Canada. The hotel replaces its linens after three months of use, and these gently used cotton-blend sheets are ideal for creating practical, easy-care school uniform shirts.

The donated linens have now been shipped to Goma, where they are waiting to be transformed at the Remember Youth for Change sewing facility. Before the Ebola outbreak, the head of the sewing program estimated that this donation could produce more than 200 kindergarten school uniform shirts.

This project will once again bring together the talented sewing community at Remember Youth for Change, including volunteer seamstresses, participants currently enrolled in the vocational sewing program, and the six tailor apprentices supported through Rapprochement: Stitching Futures. Many of these volunteers have partnered with us on previous initiatives, including sewing clothing for children first arriving in displacement camps around Goma and producing reusable menstrual hygiene pads that were distributed to 1,000 women and girls.

When it is safe to resume, this collaborative effort will do far more than provide mandatory school uniforms for young children. It will continue building the skills, confidence, and livelihoods of the apprentice tailors while giving current sewing students valuable hands-on experience serving their own community.

Thank you for standing with us through both the challenges and the victories. Your continued support gives us the flexibility to respond to urgent community needs while remaining committed to our long-term vision of creating opportunity, restoring dignity, and transforming materials into lasting impact.

Together, we are helping communities respond to immediate challenges while laying the foundation for brighter, more resilient futures.