Preview · sample figures & placeholder photos
Registered charity 12345 6789 RR0001 · Kamloops, British Columbia · Bweyale, Uganda
[email protected]School uniforms, everyday clothes and repairs are needed every week. In one year, trainees learn to measure, cut and sew, and to cost and sell their work. Many graduates are women who become the main earner in their household. Our volunteer experts train the teachers who teach it.
Tailoring needs very little to get started: one machine, a pair of scissors and a customer. For many widows and young mothers it is the most realistic route to an independent income.
But machines are expensive. Most trainees have never owned one, and without a machine a graduate cannot start working.
1 year · 3 days of theory and 2 days of practice each week
Taking measurements, hand-stitching and getting comfortable on a machine.
Pattern cutting and sewing skirts, shirts, dresses and school uniforms.
Quick, profitable repair work, and finishing to a standard customers return for.
Costing, pricing, finding customers and forming a small cooperative with other graduates.
Every trade is built as a three-level path. Level 1 runs today; Levels 2 and 3 are coming soon, and Level 1 graduates will be the first to move on.
1 year
The entry course: safe working, core skills and a BVE certificate, ready to earn.
$550 funds one student, free for them
2 years
Deeper skills and larger projects, for graduates who want to work independently.
3 years
Advanced techniques, supervision and teaching skills, preparing the next master instructors.
Pathways to income: A tailoring stall in the market, uniform contracts with schools, or work for an established tailor.
Every tailoring class is taught by a qualified tailoring professional who is in the workshop every day, accountable for results, and committed long enough to build the course. Volunteer experts from Canada then train these instructors in new methods, so students get both.
Qualification, years of experience and a short bio, added when the instructor is confirmed
Qualification, years of experience and a short bio, added when the instructor is confirmed
Classroom. Measuring, patterns, fabrics and machine care, plus English, mathematics, citizenship and social skills.
Sewing room. Measuring, cutting and sewing real garments and repairs.
Local master tailors teach the students every day. From time to time, expert tailors come from Canada to train those teachers in new skills, so they are fully equipped to train the students. The teachers then pass it on, so one visit keeps paying off for years.
Funds one student for a year
Free for the student, paid for by donors$550
“I make school uniforms for 40 children now. My own daughter wears one I sewed.”
Yes. Level 2 is a two-year program and Level 3, the advanced level, runs for three years. Both are coming soon. Level 1 graduates will be the first to move on as places open.
Where funding allows, yes. A machine is the single most valuable gift for a tailoring graduate, and it is why sewing machines head the tools list.
No. We use manual and treadle machines, which work anywhere and are easy to repair locally.
You can, but we usually advise against it. Shipping tools overseas often costs more than the tools themselves, and freight is slow and uncertain. Buying the same tools in Uganda costs less, supports local suppliers and arrives in days. Choose “Buy locally for me” and give the value, or contact us before you ship anything. Kamloops drop-offs are accepted for lightweight, high-value items such as laptops.
For cash gifts, yes — eligible gifts of $20 or more receive an official donation receipt. For gifts in kind, the Canada Revenue Agency requires the fair market value to be established, and some items need an independent appraisal, so we confirm eligibility before you send anything. Where we buy tools for you with your cash gift, it is simply a cash donation.
Cohort funders receive photos, handover lists and a short report after each graduation. Tools are counted at handover, with a record of who received what.
Equip the workshop, send a volunteer expert to train the teachers, or sponsor a student. Whatever you can give — money, tools or your own skills — we put to work in the next stage.
$550 trains one student for a year, free for the student · $11,000 funds a full cohort of 20 · 134 students have taken part since 2024 · 56 tools still needed (about $3,484)
Trainees practise on real community builds. Here are the projects this program connects to.
Bricklaying and building skills for a fast-growing settlement.
Learn moreLevel 1 carpentry: woodworking skills that can start with a handful of tools.
Learn moreLevel 1 welding: metalwork skills for gates, doors, frames and repairs.
Learn moreComputer literacy for office work, administration and small business.
Learn moreFarming skills that turn allocated plots into food and income.
Learn moreCounselling and life-skills support for every participant.
Learn more
Give money, tools or your own skills to the program that matters most to you, and follow what it achieves in our field reports.
Give money, tools or your skills. Every gift goes toward tools, teacher training and places for the people who need them most.
