Famous in Kigali.

The Friendship Baptist team that was just here in Rwanda made it into the local Kigali Focus newspaper for their work with the sewing project. Below is an excerpt from the article. You can also check out the article with a picture at this link: http://focus.rw/a/content/view/403/26/

GIVING YOUNG GIRLS A VOICE

A team of members from the Friendship Baptist church based in the US were in the country last week for a five day visit to teach vocational skills to members of Children’s Voice, a local NGO that advocates for the rights of young girls especial street girls.

Barbara Conaway, the leader of the team, said that last February their church had donated seven sewing machines to Children’s Voice, and that part of their visit was to teach the girls how to use them.

“By teaching these young homeless girls hand sewing and machine sewing, we anticipate that they will acquire skills that will enable them to take care of themselves and become self sufficient,” she said.

The team was accompanied by a group of men who are voluntarily constructing a play ground, pavilion and fencing near Lake Kivu, which will serve as a camp to accommodate people.

“Part of our program was to also visit schools like the Kigali International Community School where we showed them a film about Jesus and shared our faith with them,” explained Maize Bell, who was also on the team. “We have also gone through the book A purpose-driven life of pastor Rick Warren, since it has been translated into Kinyarwanda,”

Bell added that she was truly touched to see the revival which Rwandans have achieved even after going through horrifying experiences during the 1994 genocide.

“One can clearly see that people have room for forgiveness and growth,” she said.

“We have also donated clothes to the young mothers, along with health kits for the African New Life School in Kimironko, and when we get back home we will share their stories with our congregation so that we get more financial support to help these young girls in every way possible,” Carol Reed, another team member, remarked.

Even though their stay was short, she said that they had been able to teach the girls vocational skills that will help them in the near future. “We taught them how to make pin couches, skirts, and to practice sewing by hand in addition to machine sewing, and we noticed that these girls had this big drive to learn.”