The Wide Scope of Sewaid Projects.
Tony has been active for over 20 years with many Sewaid Prijects
Tony and his wife Sandra have been active in Rotary projects over many years. The scope of the work they have done would fill an entire Phoenix so here is a (very) brief summary. Tony is still very active in his projects only being stopped by the Corona 19 lockdowns around the world.
Pre 2004 – sewing machine hand outs
- 2004 Vanuatu - Port Villa
- 2007 Vanuatu -Port Villa and Santo
- 2008 Indonesia–Banda Aceh
- 2010 PNG- Porgera Western Highlands
- 2011 Philippines- Gingoog in Mindanao
- 2013 Tanzania- School of St Jude
- 2013 Uganda- School For Life – Katuuso
- 2015 Fiji- Lautoka, Koroipta Model Homes Village
- 2017 Cambodia- Pursat, Sustainable Cambodia
- 2017/18 Fiji- Ba Womens Association
- 2019 Solomon Islands – Noro
- 2019 Timor Leste – Dili
Project visits
This is a list of actual SewAid team visits. All projects would have had a research visit sometime before the project was approved and most have had a re-visit since to follow-up and to give additional training. Our next team program will be to Kirabati. We made the research visit last year.
Microloans programme
Up until 2010, our program was a micro-loans type program, where we taught and equipped individuals to be able to run their own sewing or craft business from home. We supplied them with a sewing machine and all sewing equipment, along with enough fabric to get them through the first 3 months. We asked them to pay $10 a month for 20 months starting on the fourth month, which accounted to about 25% of the real cost. Most all micro-loans were re-paid in full, but we encountered a number of problems such as husbands selling the machine, and losing contact with the people when they moved etc.
Project Changes
In 2011 we stopped the micro-loans program in favour of establishing a permanent SewAid workshop in these 3rd world countries. The advantage of a permanent workshop is that it is ongoing and it can teach others and give employment to many. We also have undertaken to maintain these workshops, by refurbishing the equipment and giving additional training from time to time, thus giving the program more sustainability. Sewaid workshops are now in Philippines, Uganda, Cambodia, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste.
More information can be found on our website www.sewaid.com