Watermark in Africa

The next group we visited was a group of 23 widows who make necklaces.  You have probably seen some of the women at our church wearing these necklaces.  This is one of two groups of widows in Uganda (the other is in Kampala) that ALARM works with.  We bring these beads back to America with us on each trip, and we raise funds for them in sharing these beads with our body.

We were welcomed to the group by Helen, their leader.  She told us of how the women “gained strength” when ALARM began working with them.  ALARM helped them establish their business and got all of their children in school.  We then heard from one of the women in the group, Jessica.  Jessica started by thanking God that He allowed us to visit with the ladies.  Jessica is 36 years old and the mother of six children.  She told us that she used the first money she earned in the program to buy three chickens (funny side note – she named the chickens ALARM, Molly, and Okello…Molly and Okello [Nelson’s last name] work for ALARM).  She told us that before she entered the program she had one dress to wear and fed her family one meal per day.  She now owns more than one outfit and feeds her kids more frequently, including meat.  She closed by sharing with us about how she has grown in her relationship with Christ and then sang a song for us about her love for God.

As we spoke about their necklace making operation (note: the beads are made of paper which is then painted and dipped in lacquer), they spoke of the slow process of cutting the paper into strips.  We will try to bring some paper cutters with our next team to visit Uganda in March.

Pray for God’s continued provision for these women and our ability to continue bringing their necklaces back to America to help support them.

Tomorrow – Another widow group.

Some of the necklaces the ladies make.

One of the ladies at work making necklaces.

More of the necklaces they make.