Rosie's In The Compound!

You don't expect to find Rosie the Riveter in the middle of a compound in a city in Africa. But we did. 

Katie McKanna and I visited Chikumbuso Widows and Orphans Project near Ng'ombe. Katie is visiting from the States with her husband, Bruce, who is the Senior Pastor of our home church in Illinois. While Bruce and Tracy were teaching at APC, she and I drove to this ministry which helps victims of the AIDS epidemic live self-sufficiently by training them in several occupations~tailoring, cooking, and jewelry and handbag-making. The latter I find the most interesting and unique as the women crochet artistic and fashionable purses out of plastic bags. 

While there we were given a tour of the premises by Beauty. She shared that there are approximately 50 women who busily work at this art. A purse can take up to a week to make depending upon its size and how constantly the woman works.

The handbags are then displayed in their store where they wait for buyers. Each bag carries the name of its maker and Chikumbuso's label. Costs range from $6-50 with the majority of the profit going to the woman who made the purse. The rest of the monies is split among the project, savings, and helping others. 

Chikumbuso provides free schooling and a feeding program for over 600 
children, if I understood Beauty correctly. This work is quite an inspiration and one that really works!


As Katie and I shopped, looking at all the colorful purses, we saw a framed picture of former President Bush and his wife Laura. They had recently visited the project and created quite a stir in Ng'ombe. And from what I heard in the news, they were inspired as well. 

Rosie the Riveter was right, "[they] can do it." But by God's grace!