SEW A SEED ZAMBIA - NON PROFIT SEWING SCHOOL

HELP US BUILD A SEWING SCHOOL AND STUDIO IN LUSAKA (ZAMBIA).

SEW A SEED aims at helping and empowering the neediest people in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, by giving them free access to a sewing school laboratory. We want to offer hope for an independent and creative income to the poorest and most disadvantaged people whose lives hang by a thread.

SEW A SEED IS A NON PROFIT HUMANITARIAN SUPPORT PROJECT currently being implemented, promoted by two charitable associations in the area, Liberato Zambia 2001 (Italy) and Carità Senza Confini (Republic of San Marino). The fund-raising aims to finance the ex-novo construction of the space that will house the sewing school laboratory, its complete set-up and running costs for the first two years. 

The project wants to empower and improve the living conditions of those in need by teaching them basic sewing skills, to produce items they can sell directly. Advanced courses will be available to facilitate entry into the local tailoring sector. In addition to training, the workshop will provide a space for social development.

Your donations will be used to build the sewing studio, an open space of about 100 square meters equipped with sewing machines, work tools, fabrics and accessories, which Carità Senza Confini has already collected as a donation in San Marino and shipped to Lusaka. The project is well underway, thanks to San Marino citizens' generosity and timely action. 

It is essential to highlight that SEW A SEED will be built next to a well-established volunteer activity, the San Marino Bakery. The non-profit bakery of Carità Senza Confini, with the proceeds from the sales of bread and pastries to the public, produces and distributes daily food support (1200 kilos of bread each month) to schools, orphanages, prisons, HIV centres, hospitals and other extremely poor realities in the Zambian capital.

The bakery also provides training and employment, with regular contracts, to 15 workers from the nearby compound and finances with micro-credit 50 itinerant bread sellers and five bicycle sellers, who are supplied daily by the bakery. Micro-credit programs are also extended to the bakery staff to purchase a small plot of land where they can build a house.

San Marino Bakery's decade-long experience has motivated its volunteers to do more. The idea of the sewing school workshop SEW A SEED was inspired by the story of Wisdom, a street kid taken in by Franciscan nuns who developed a passion for sewing and became a successful local entrepreneur. SEW A SEED is also inspired by the goodwill of Zambians and their desire to learn and seize opportunities to escape poverty. There is a saying: 'Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime'.

THE VISION OF THE SEW A SEED PROJECT STARTS FROM THE IDEA THAT A SEWING MACHINE, INSTEAD OF BENEFITING ONE PERSON, CAN BENEFIT MANY. 

The idea of the school workshop is developed around the basic principle that several people in rotation can use each sewing machine. A well-equipped and organised workshop is also the ideal space to manufacture one's products in a safe and socially stimulating environment. 

THE SEW A SEED STUDIO WILL BE A CREATIVE AND SOCIAL LABORATORY, equipped with 15 workstations, each with a pedal-driven sewing machine (Lusaka often lacks electricity) and all the necessary equipment. The project will provide full-time employment for a sewing teacher and a space manager, both Zambians. 

WE WANT TO EMPOWER MINORITIES, ESPECIALLY THE WOMEN OF LUSAKA

The project targets the following particularly disadvantaged groups of people in need 

- 'chased women', in Lusaka, this is what they call women who, repudiated by their husbands, find themselves on the street without a home or job, with dependent children; 

- poor and disabled people; 

- orphans and street kids. Many children and adolescents live on the streets and are rescued by humanitarian associations. After school, they can learn a trade with Sew A Seed and obtain a tailoring diploma.

OBJECTIVES OF THE SCHOOL-WORKSHOP PROGRAM

The school will accommodate around 60 students a year, with free courses and the awarding of a sewing diploma; afterwards, it will be able to offer graduates a period of support in starting their businesses. Also intended as a place to work and share, SEW A SEED's workshop will be able to be used by graduates for their sewing activities, where each of the 15 sewing machines will be available for about 20 hours a week, for a total of 300 hours of sewing time.

The SEW A SEED studio will be an ample and welcoming open space on the ground floor, certified and compliant with standards, with no architectural barriers, adjacent to the San Marino Bakery, with which it will share toilets, parking, a garden and electricity from the photovoltaic system. The design is by a Zambian architect, and the construction will employ Zambian labour. 

WE ARE ALMOST THERE! HELP US BUILD THE SPACE WITH YOUR DONATION.

The sewing machines and all the equipment donated by the people of San Marino are in the bakery warehouse, ready to set up the space! Let's build it together; every small or large donation strengthens the project. 

TO MAKE THIS DREAM COME TRUE

DONATE NOW. 

HELP US SEW A SEED and GROW A FUTURE

Thank you!