Provide Vocational Training for Ugandan Women

“I will never stop learning,” Lapeko adamantly proclaims.  “My hair may turn gray, but as long as I’m still breathing, I’ll never stop learning.”

Lapeko, raised by her grandmother in Northern Uganda, had the unexpected opportunity to attend school through Project Have Hope’s scholastic sponsorship program.  No one in her family – grandmother, mother, nor older sisters – had ever attended school.  She knew of the word school, but attached no meaning to it. 

From village life to boarding school was a drastic change, but Lapeko’s strength is in her eagerness to learn.  The language barrier was her greatest challenge.  She spoke only Acholi, whereas everyone else mostly spoke English.  Undeterred, by her second year in school, she ranked second in her class.

Upon completing senior four, she pursued a course in hotel management and currently works at a small guest house.

“I still have dreams.  Marriage comes after.”  Lapeko is determined to build her own future.  “By working, I know I can take care of myself and I’m not dependent on a husband.”  In a culture where girls tend to marry young and live a life strapped to bearing children and taking care of the home, Lapeko has chosen an uncommon path.

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“I think big!” gushes Eric.  “I want to be the best designer ever!”  His goals aren’t limited to fashioning clothes, but to every aspect of design.  With unbridled ambition, a strong work ethic and passion, this 22 year old is unstoppable.

Raised by his mother, who, like so many, found a safe haven in the Acholi Quarter during the long years of war in Northern Uganda, Eric was just six years old when Project Have Hope started sponsoring him in school.

He laughs when he thinks of those early years.  “When I was young, I would say, ‘I want to be a doctor.’”  He muses, “I don’t know what I was thinking. 

These days, his passion for fashion design is palpable.  A simple look at the manipulated jeans he’s wearing shows his individuality.  He’s reworked a standard pair of jeans into a fashion statement – flowing side panels of black fabric stitched wide below the knee. Random pockets in assorted dark fabric are placed throughout both legs. Four letters, IEBN, are capitalized and embroidered on the bottom of each leg, a personal testament for himself, signifying his desire to move forward and leave the past behind.

Eric’s passion for design was ignited when he was 17 years old and a student in Senior 4.  His uniform was too big and ill-fitting.  He was determined to fix it.  “I used to watch my mom (who is a tailor), so I thought, ‘Let me try,’” he recalls as he sat behind a sewing machine for the first time to adjust his uniform.  “From that day, I loved tailoring.”

After completing Senior 4, through Project Have Hope’s sponsorship, Eric pursued a course in fashion and design.  His teacher was so impressed by both his skill and eagerness to learn that he recommended him for a job with a company that manufactures clothes for government contracts.  From overalls to aprons, to shirts with embroidered names, Eric adeptly fashions each, earning a modest living.

Eric’s love for tailoring is evident.  When he reaches home each evening, he switches on one of the two sewing machines his mother has, and continues to sew.  Sometimes creating fashions for himself or friends and neighbors, sometimes doing mundane repairs.  Although he acknowledges he may not become rich as a tailor, he loves how tailoring enables him to connect with people.  “Even someone who is big and important can come to you, and you make for them clothes, and they appreciate what you do.”  Eric continues, “You can make some money every day.  You have worked for it.  That makes me feel good.”  To outsiders, that may not mean much.  But in Uganda, where every day is a struggle to find work and earn money, having a lucrative skill is crucial to not just survive, but thrive.

“Right now, where I am there’s a very big difference because I’ve studied,” reflects Eric.  “If I hadn’t gone to school, I’d be in bad groups, not doing anything good.  I would not have a future.”

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