Showing posts with label Uganda women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Uganda women. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

LIFTED Uganda update


          LIFTED Uganda has amazing and wonderful news!!!! 


Since the beginning of the idea of LIFTED Uganda I have dreamt of one day getting our ‘crafts’ into a very big tourist store here in Kampala.  I can’t say I really thought it would happen because I wasn’t sure how far the bibs would go as far as popularity.  Well, dreams have come true and prayers have been answered for me, my sister, and the LIFTED ladies!!!


Mary training Miriam, another LIFTED lady!

Jane, our newest LIFTED lady!!
The LIFTED Uganda bibs have made it into the store, Banana Boat!! After a lot of hard work from the women, we managed to build a stock pile of about 30 bibs.  I wanted to have 50 bibs on hand but they have become so popular that I kept selling them to random people along the way.  I dropped off the samples to the manager and waited for the email to let us know if they would accept them and sell them in the store.  Within 1 week I got a response and the owner purchased 14 bibs!! I told the LIFTED ladies to pray hard that the bibs would sell and that the store would want to order more.  Two weeks passed and I didn’t hear back from the owner until finally I got an email with an order for 36 bibs!!!  YAY!!!    We were so stoked!!! But since it was just before the holidays we didn’t have many bibs available, so the sew fest began!!! I had 2 of the ladies who were the best trained, come to our house off and on for the week and they busted out all 36 bibs.  It was a lot of work at once but it gave the ladies the chance to perfect their sewing skills and gain some speed too.  We even decided to start practicing on the electric sewing machine that I was given.  We now have 1 lady who is doing very well on the electric machine and another lady who is fantastic at hand stitching.  Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Paska since the stitching and sewing was too difficult for her, but since we gained this store as a hopeful consistent client we were able to bring 2 other ladies on.  We now have Alice in Arua, Mary, Medina, Jane and Miriam all from Kampala who are a part of the Sojourn Community/church. 


Medina is practicing stitching

We are super thrilled about this chance to spread the word about LIFTED bibs! Banana boat is a very popular tourist shop that has 3 locations throughout Kampala.  The store attracks many tourists from around the world and it’s awesome to think that LIFTED bibs are being worn by babies in China, Australia, Spain, Ireland…..the list goes on!!! How cool is that!!


Mary, Katie, and Jane at our house during our SEWFEST!!





Tuesday, March 15, 2011

LIFTED UGANDA bibs for sale!!

We were so excited to release the newest batch of
LIFTED Uganda bibs!!     

And even more excited to say that out of 24 we have only .... 5 left to sell !!
We have more bibs coming in April including 2 new designs.  
Give a beautiful, hand-made African gift with a purpose!


LIFTED Uganda --   Baby bibs with velcro closure are hand made by Ugandan women using beautiful and colorful Ugandan cloth and a treadle sewing machine.  Each bib is decorated with a LIFTED tag which includes a biography and photo of the artist.  All the profits go back to the Ugandan mama's.  

LIFTED engages Uganda women in money generating employment to supplement their income and help them care for their families.  Our friend Mama Alice is doing a great job sewing the bibs and receiving profits to provide for her large family.  I just recently visited Alice and was able to pay her for the last batch of bibs she made!  She is putting the money towards the building of a small mud house with a tin roof, which will eventually become their home.  She is currently living in a mud home that is being destroyed by ants and the thatched roof is old, leaking and in need of replacement.  Alice is also training her cousin in hand stitching.   As soon as she is able to stitch properly, she will join the LIFTED team. 

We are thrilled to share that we are in the process of extending LIFTED to an area close to Kampala, where we are currently living.  We hope to train and employ several additional women in the coming year.  To do this, we need to continue selling LIFTED bibs and getting the word out about these one-of-a-kind baby gifts!  We need your help!  Do you have a blog? Can you help spread the word about LIFTED Uganda bibs to your friends and family? How about sharing our link on your FaceBook page?  Thank you!!

To Purchase a Hand Made African Bib:

Email Katie at xtkatie@gmail.com with fabric and design, number of bibs and shipping address. Once I receive your email order I will send a confirmation email to ensure we have the bib/s you want to purchase. After you receive my email confirmation, you may use the PayPal button on the blog or send your check in the mail. Please do not send checks or use PayPal until you receive a confirmation email from me. Thank you!! Once payment is received your African bib/s will be shipped immediately.

                                    LIFTED UGANDA     WOMEN MADE     FAIR TRADE 

1 Green/ Yellow fabric with Tree

2 Yellow/Blue star fabric with Star

 1 Blue/Green/Yellow fabric with One Star 

1 Blue/ Green/Yellow fabric with Two Stars



Here are some other designs that have already sold out, but will be back in April!