Ugandan Wood
A few weeks ago this very blog mentioned that SALVE’s brand new carpentry project was up and running, so maybe it’s time to catch up on what’s been happening in the SALVE workshop.
The seven particpants from Mafubira
The project initially started with seven young men recruited from Mafubira: the same village which is home to the Kyakatonda women’s group, SALVE’s bead making project. The men recruited all dropped out of school early, unable to pay the fees, or after their parents had died. They had no, or poor, jobs and struggled to make ends meet. In short, like too many people in Uganda they were stuck in an economic wilderness with limited opportunities to escape. It’s great that four weeks later all seven of the boys are still with the programme and making great progress.
Efforts to recruit children from the streets onto the project have a taken a little longer to
Olupot teaches the first carpentry lesson
come to fruition. This reflects the many challenges in working with these children – including drug dependency, the transient nature of their lives, and the difficulty in committing to a structured programme. But now, thanks to the work of the SALVE drop in centre and our partner organisations in Jinja [transit centre link] we have identified two boys who are really enthusiastic and benefitting from our programme.
Juliet teaches an English lesson
The project is going from strength to strength, and it’s been a real privilege to see the participants gel together as a group committed to learning a new skill, whilst also enjoying themselves. SALVE’s resident carpentry trainer, Olupot, has already taught a great deal – from the dry theory of timber science to basic joints and woodworking techniques. In addition to carpentry the participants are also learning other life skills including English and Maths. All this has been made possible due a generous grant from the Balcombe Trust, and we’re really hoping that we can work towards making the project partially self-sustaining over the next year.
We’ve even sold our first pieces of furniture! Unfortunately this isn’t something you can buy from the SALVE online shop, but don’t forget to stock up on beads and Christmas cards – there are only six weeks until the 25th December!
Read all about it…
Even though we’re a few thousand miles away it’s always great to catch up on news from back home. Luckily Uganda has a host of newspapers you can buy on pretty much any street corner – from the respectable Daily Monitor (a favourite of this blogger) to the Red Pepper, which may well be attempting to make the Daily Star in the UK look dignified. However, as a recent Amnesty International report highlights, fair and balanced reporting isn’t something that you can take for granted. The report certainly makes interesting reading, and is worth bearing in mind next time you feel exasperated by the media in the UK.
