Dear David and members of Rotary Club Addison: a HUGE thank you from Lotumbe village and HandUp Congo for your support of women’s livelihoods! Please find a photo received today,
showing the three women who will soon travel by canoe 300 km from Lotumbe to Mbandaka, to strengthen their sewing skills and learn leadership and project management skills. They will then return to Lotumbe and run the village’s sewing school.
This sewing school represents hope for single mothers. One inspiring example is Mama Mboyo (below), a young polio victim – something we Rotarians are united to fight. Mboyo is a great example of entrepreneurship. Once considered a burden on her family due to her physical limitations, she enrolled in the sewing school and with a tricycle made possible by HandUp Congo, she now has a flourishing business. She is considered the most successful seamstress in the village, and supports her parents and siblings. This includes access to healthcare and schooling – the tricycle makes it possible for her to get to school. She is in high school now.