Uganda preparations

Well, I didn't get any sewing done this weekend. This is report card week, so a boat load of us spent our Saturday at school working on report cards. I really resent having to work all day Saturday at school when I have other things I'd rather be doing. I'm usually so tired when I get home from school during the week, that I don't get much done, so the weekends are MY TIME! OK, enough of that.

My trip to Uganda is coming up quickly and there is a lot to do to get ready. I need to find out how many women I will be working with and how many machines there are. I will be teaching them to make choir robes for the church, but this will give them the skills they need to make other things to sell, to do repairs, make clothes for their families, etc. I will probably need to bring shears, pins, needles, sewing machine needles, seam rippers and patterns. We will buy the fabric there.

I am thinking about what I will be taking with me. The village I am going to, Busana, is very primitive and I will need a translator since the majority of the people do not speak English. The official language of Uganda is English, but in the rural areas, less than 3% of the population know English. I don't know what language they do speak. Pants are not appreciated in these rural areas, so I will be wearing skirts. Mosquitos are a problem, so I will be wearing mostly long sleeves. I will be doing a lot of walking (I think) on dirt roads, so I will be wearing comfy shoes. I would rather wear sandals, but there are parasites in the soil that enter the blood through the skin, so I'm not taking any chances with my feet.

I only have about 1 month before I leave. That's one month to make something that I will take with me. I'd like to make 3 things. I'm thinking I will make another pair of the Mary Tilton pants to wear on the plane. I will be en route between 24-36 hours, so I need to be comfortable and be able to move and stretch when I can. Even though women don't wear pants in the villages, they do in the larger cities, so pants for travel will be OK.





I'd also like to make this Safe T Pockets vest. It has lots of pockets that I can carry my stuff with me and not have to worry about lugging around a purse all the time. I would also like to make either another long skirt, or a long sleeved white blouse. I'm not one for wearing long sleeves when its warm, so I really don't know what I want here.



I am very excited about this opportunity to share the love of sewing to a group of women who so desperately need the skill. I have learned that I am the only one going from California and that I will be in charge of how everything will work. This ought to be interesting since I have no idea of what I am going to be getting into when I get there. No worries though, God knows what I will be getting into and He already has it all planned out.

I need to start getting all of my immunizations. I will have to get hepatitis A&B, typhoid, yellow fever, tetanus, polio, a flu shot, and malaria medication. To top it off, I just found out from my school district that I will need to get a TB test this month as well :-)

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN HELPING??
Not everyone wants to go to Uganda to teach women to sew, but are you interested in helping? I need to raise my support to go. Total costs will be between $3,000-$4,000. Some costs go directly to International Messengers, and others are out of pocket expenses (immunizations will be close to $700) for me. If you would like to help support me, you can send a tax deductible donation to
International Messengers,
PO Box 618,
Clear Lake, IA 50423-0618
Be sure to include a note saying that the donation is to help support Nancy Winningham

If you do not care about the tax deduction, you can send a donation directly to me at
1430 S. Grand Street, Visalia, CA 93292

Also, I would really appreciate your prayers. Prayers that all would go well during travel, that I would stay healthy and not have any rheumatoid arthritis or Fibromyalgia flare ups, and most of all, that our ministry would be effective in sharing the love of Christ.