All posts by Michael Sabrio

Report from Uganda, April 2023

May 21, 2023 Michael Sabrio

By Mathew Yawe, Executive Director, Mityana Open Troop Foundation
Spring 2023 Newsletter

On behalf of the Mityana Open Troop Foundation, allow me to present to you a report of our activities from Janaury to April 2023.

Mityana Open Troop Foundation is a registered Community Based Organization, with a Vocational Skills Training Centre, which recruits and trains vulnerable youths, mostly young girls formerly selling sex for survival and girls expelled from schools due to teenage pregnancies. Currently the project has a total of 111 Trainees, girls and boys.

Learners are trained for two years in sustainable skills such as sewing and fashion design, hair dressing and weaving, motor vehicle mechanics, carpentry & joinery, or metal fabrication.

There are three 3-month training terms per year. For each term the centre recruits whoever wishes to join.

Since the inception of our Vocational Skills Training project in 2007, more than 1,200 have graduated. Some got employed while others set up their own workshops.

Every trainee in the sewing program works with a sewing machine from the Pedals for Progress / Sewing Peace Project of the USA to enable proper hands-on training.

Other P4P/SP sewing machines are donated to the graduating youths to enable them to start their own workshops right away. In Uganda, graduating a trainee with only a certificate and no equipment is a waste of time. It’s estimated that 90% of Ugandan graduates can’t afford start-up equipment.

Achievements

The Vocational project held its Eighth Graduation Ceremony on February 11, 2023, when 205 youths graduated with sustainable skills. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and Ebola in our Ugandan Operational Districts, this is our first graduation ceremony since the Seventh Graduation Ceremony in November 2018.

Breakdown of graduates:

101 tailors
70 hair dressers
10 domestic electricians
20 motor vehicle mechanics
4 bakers

The project leased a plot of land for growing maize and beans to feed project learners, as buying maize flour and beans from food stores is so expensive.

We also hold talks concerning STIs, HIV/AIDS, youth friendly services, etc.

Income and Expenditure January to April 2023

Exchange rate: 1 U.S. dollar (USD) to 3,300 Uganda shillings (UGX)

	Income January 2023 to April 2023. (USD $)		Expenditure January 2023 to April 2023. (USD $)
1.	School fees contribution from trainees	US $ 2,727	salaries for the Instructors and support staff	US $ 600
2.	Selling of Sewing machines.	US $ 454	Sewing machine shipping from USA	US $ 1600
3.	Sewing & fashion products, embroidering services, face masks.	US $ 110	Trainee feeding	US $ 1000
4.	Carpentry workshop products.	US $ 301	Training working materials.	US $ 500
5.	Government of Uganda, youths skilling program support.	-Nil-	Electricity bills for school, carpentry, sewing shop.	US $ 400
6.	Kolping Mityana Womens Project, 5 Vulnerable Orphanage school fees support.	US $ 500	Computer services & stationary.	US $ 30
7.	Fields of Life Orphanage school fees Support.	US $ 419	Compound slashing / maintaining.	US $ 60
8.	Unbound Kampala Ltd Vulnerable Orphanage school fees Support.	US $ 350	Sewing Show Room & Carpentry Workshop premise Renting.	US $ 597
9.			Firewood	US $ 200
10.			Operational licences / Taxes	US $ 239
11.			Sewing machine servicing	-Nil-
12.			Condolence support to project trainees and teachers, having lost their closest dear ones!	US $ 1000
	TOTALS:	US $ 4,861		US $ 6,226

Challenges / Limitations

The Training Centre lacks clean water. There is a small water tank, 2000 liters, which is emptied in 2 days. Then students have to walk 2 km to get water from unprotected sources.

We lost Rev. Balam Mukwaya in February 2023, a board member who donated to the project land fund.

The organization requires office furniture and staff room, as instructors don’t have a place to sit and keep their kits.

The organization still encounters challenges in raising funds for shipping sewing machines from Pedals for Progress / Sewing Peace USA, as the project gives sewing machines to graduates as start-up equipment.

The organization lacks a computer, printer, and photocopier for printing end-of-term exams, and for other office computer work. Currently all computer work is taken to our town to be worked on.

The project needs a computer lab with internet access, to enable students to find dress fashions, learn computer skills, and get health information. In addition, this computer lab would be used by our community volunteers to access the Ministry of Health for health-related issues.

We have many cases of malaria among project trainees, as they lack mosquito nets.

Our project lacks a toilet for boys. Currently boys and girls share one pit latrine, which is not recommended by the Ministry of Education.

The project lacks an incinerator, where sanitary pads and other wastes can be burnt easily.

We lack our own land for growing maize, beans, and potatoes for feeding trainees. The same piece of land could be planted with Robusta coffee and macadamia nuts, cash crops for generating income.

Community Impact

The Mityana Open Troop Vocational Skills Project offers affordable training to school dropouts from our communities, including unemployed youths. The project trainees come from the six surrounding districts: Mityana, Mubende, Kiboga, Kasanda, Kyankwanzi, and Hoima. The non-formal skills training we offer has very much benefited parents whose children have dropped out of school, as most institutions in the area offer formal education only.

Over 800 trainees have graduated since our inception in 2007. These graduates go back to their communities and set up their own workshops, passing along their acquired skills to fellow youths who didn’t join our project.

The community can also buy inexpensive goods and services from trainees in the carpentry workshop and the sewing project, where we make uniforms and offer sewing repair services.

Our sewing shop also offers embroidery services to schools formerly traveling to Kampala.

The Mityana Open Troop Foundation is the only shop in the area delivering high quality used sewing machines at inexpensive prices. The machines are from Sewing Peace USA. Many schools and tailors in the area have been supplied with these machines.

Way Forward and Recommendations

We are fundraising for a new 2-classroom block, to enable us to create a conducive training environment and have room for more students.

We need an incinerator for burning sanitary pads and other waste.

We need a new toilet for boys, who currently share facilities with girls, which is not recommended!

We need embroidery machines with USB input, as the one we have is very slow and requires mechanical servicing all the time!

We are organizing a Christmas children’s party for December 27th, with guest speakers, drinks, cakes, biscuits, music, and gifts.

We welcome volunteers who can teach sustainable skills to our youths. We would like to partner with similar vocational training institutions elsewhere in the world. This will help us learn how they operate. Plus it will help our Ugandan youths create friendships with fellow youths and learn about their cultures.

Conclusion

In conclusion, on behalf of the Mityana Open Troop Foundation, I extend our sincere thanks to the following great friends / partners who have been so supportive of our activities: Mr. Chris Eldridge, Mr. David Schweidenback and Mr. Alan Schultz of the Sewing Peace Project USA.

I extend our thanks to the generous communities of the USA, who have been donating high-quality refurbished sewing machines to our needy Ugandan communities. Please, the used sewing machines which seem unimportant in the USA have uplifted our communities, changing peoples’ lives by creating a daily source of income. Thanks to all the volunteers involved in the collection of sewing machines and bicycles.

Please Continue Giving a Hand Up, Not a Hand out.

Thanks.

bicycles, Guatemala

Report from Guatemala, Spring 2023: FIDESMA ECOLOBICI Business Project

May 20, 2023 Michael Sabrio

Bicycles in Competition

Over the past 10 years, many young people have entered the sport of cycling from different places in Guatemala because of our bicycles. They began training on local roads, and over time they were encouraged to participate in competitions. These included different categories, for both men and women, using different types of bicycles. Our quality bikes enabled these young people to compete in events all over Guatemala.

In 2022 the Guatemalan National Cycling Competition passed through our home town of San Andrés Itzapa, Chimaltenango. One of the cyclists from the Guatemalan national team is from Itzapa. The bicycle is a symbol of sport, of competition, and of teamwork. It is of great benefit to the children and youth of our towns.

Bicycles in Schools

Also for more than 10 years we have delivered bicycles to teachers in different communities in Chimaltenango, where children win bicycles by holding a raffle or a competition. Many children who have won bicycles use them to go to school, to run family errands, or just to play sports.

Bicycles for Transportation

Many men and women have bought bicycles from our FIDESMA ECOLOBICI bike shop. The bikes are used by women who take their market goods home, by young people who go to work in the urban area of Chimaltenango, and by men who use their bikes to commute to the farms and factories where they work. Using bicycles for transportation saves money they would otherwise spend on bus fares.

Sewing Machines

Sewing machines have always been a very important contribution from Pedals for Progress / Sewing Peace. Each year more than 20 women have benefited from a sewing machine. Women use their sewing machines mainly in their clothing stores. They repair clothing for other people, they make new garments for sale, and they repair clothing for their own families.

Our Resellers

Because of the pandemic, people from around the country were looking for new business opportunities. In parts of Guatemala that we do not get to, some of these people decided to become resellers of our bicycles. They buy loads of our bikes and resell them in their communities for a profit.

Togo

Togo Report, March 2023

April 4, 2023 Michael Sabrio

From: Simon Akouete
Date: March 23, 2023

The whole P4P team are doing well I believe.

I am sending you some photos of the ceremony of the second edition of the International Women’s Rights Day organized by the DRVR-TOGO Association with the Young Women’s Leaders Group (G.J.F.L) here in Vogan-Awlamé in Togo. The theme this year is “For an Inclusive Digital World: Innovation and Technologies for Gender Equality”.

Many events and demonstrations are organized around March 8 to promote women’s rights and equality between women and men. The event is marked first by a women’s caravan with a fanfare group carrying the banner they held in front of the crowd on which you will see the name and logo of Pedals for Progress and an American flag. On the opposite side is the flag of Togo and the name of the Young Women’s Leaders Group, which is one of the groups supervised by the association Challenge and Revolution in Rural Life (DRVR-TOGO). The caravan passes through the surrounding villages, and is followed by a women’s bicycle race with a key message: with bicycles, we have a means of transport that is fast, safe, ecological, and above all economic and adapted to our means for the reinforcement of our small commercial activities.

All our thanks go to P4P, its partners, and to all near and far who supported us for the smooth running of this activity.

Simon Yawo Galé AKOUETE, coordinateur de l’association DRVR-TOGO

Sewing Partners, Uganda

Uganda: Mityana Open Troop Graduation, February 2023

February 21, 2023 Michael Sabrio

Dr. Patrick Byakatonda, Director, Directorate of Industrial Training, has today, 11 Feb 2023, commissioned 252 youths at the Mityana Open Troop Foundation & Vocational Institute.

Business

2022 Annual Report: 10/01/21 to 09/30/22

December 20, 2022 Michael Sabrio

Pedals for Progress, a New Jersey nonprofit corporation, empowers sustainable economic development by recycling bicycles and sewing machines from the U.S. and shipping them to motivated people in the developing world. Pedals for Progress (P4P) is a nonprofit charity incorporated under the laws of New Jersey, and registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code (EIN: 22-3122003). An eleven-member unpaid board of trustees oversees a paid staff of 4 and a network of hundreds of volunteers.

2022 Highlights

Pedals for Progress shipped 5 containers and 3 LCL (Less than Container Load) shipments for a total of 2,322 bicycles, and 514 sewing machines, to 7 nonprofit agency partners in 7 developing countries. This brings cumulative donations shipped since 1991 to 166,006 bicycles, 6,043 sewing machines.

We concentrated our collection operations in New Jersey and in the New York City and Philadelphia suburbs increasing our efficiency. Our bicycle and sewing machine collections were sponsored by 26 community partners in four states.

New Leadership

P4p has a new president. At their 14 August 2022 meeting, the P4P Board of Trustees approved the transition plan that’s been in the works since 2021. David Schweidenback, founder and President from 1991 until now, is now Vice President, International Programs. Alan Schultz is our new President.

2022 Shipments

Recipients of Fiscal 2022 Bicycle Container Shipments

Association Défi et Révolution de la Vie Rural (DRVR), Togo (927 bicycles and 123 sewing machines in two shipments)
Fundación Integral de Desarrollo Sostenible y Medio Oriente (FIDESMA), San Andres Ixtapa, Guatemala (470 bikes and 15 sewing machines)
P4P/Belize, Belize (473 bicycles and 100 sewing machines)
Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association (452 bicycles and 60 sewing machines)

Started the year 10/1/21 with 315 bicycles in inventory.
Ended the year 9/30/22 with 646 bicycles remaining in inventory.
2022 Total Shipped 2,322, Total Collected 2,503

Bicycle Shipments by Region

	Fiscal 2022	Fiscal 2021
Africa	60%	68%
Asia	0%	0%
Central America	40%	15%
Eastern Europe	0%	17%

Recipients of Fiscal 2022 Sewing Machine LCL Shipments

Rising Hope Foundation for Change, Cameroon (72 sewing machines)
Mityana Open Troop Foundation, Uganda (72 sewing machines)
Hiran Youth Council, Somalia (72 sewing machines)

Started the year 10/1/21 with 73 sewing machines in inventory.
Ended the year 9/30/22 with 220 sewing machines in inventory.
2022 Total Shipped 514, Total Collected 617

Sewing Machines Shipments by Region

	Fiscal 2022	Fiscal 2021
Africa	78%	81%
Asia	0%	0%
Central America	22%	7%
Eastern Europe	0%	12%

Overseas Partners

During the year, Pedals for Progress focused on a small number of reliable partners for the majority of our shipments.

The most critical factors in creating a sustainable, self-financing partnership are shipping costs and effective administration by our overseas partners. Experience has proven that when the shipping costs are at or below $15 per bike or $10 per sewing machine, with good management, this cost is low enough to sustain a self-financing partnership. Without charitable donations, grants or other funding, Pedals for Progress is limited to working primarily in Central America and the Caribbean, while Africa and Eastern Europe require subsidies to pay their higher shipping costs. Overseas distribution success is determined by per unit cost. Landlocked countries remain beyond our reach due to excessive inland transportation costs. Domestic shipping is also expensive; our domestic inland trucking costs to get shipments to port have more than doubled in the last five years.

While our primary goal is to supply environmentally sound transportation to communities and stimulate the greater movement of goods and services, our partners often generate extra funds from the bikes we ship them. These windfall funds, in turn, finance a breadth of community development activities.

Still, we are hopeful that other partner organizations, including some that did not receive bikes in 2022, will pay all or most expenses for new shipments in fiscal 2023, or subsidies will be found to initiate new programs.

Continuing Partners

Cameroon: Rising Hope for Change, Limbe
Guatemala: Fundación Integral de Desarrollo Sostenible y Medio Oriente (FIDESMA), San Andrés Itzapa, Chimaltenango
Rwanda: Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association, Kigali
Tanzania: The Norbert and Friends Foundation, Arusha
Togo: Association Défi et Révolution de la Vie Rurale (DRVR), Vogan
Uganda: The Mityana Open Troop Foundation, Mityana
Belize: P4P/Belize, Belize City
Somalia: Hiran Youth Council, Mogadishu

New Partners 2022

P4P/Belize, Belize City, Belize. We shipped a container of 473 bicycles and 100 sewing machines.

Hiran Youth Council, Mogadishu, Somalia. We shipped 72 sewing machines.

Finances

2022 was a turbulent but good year for Pedals for Progress finances. We started fiscal 2022 in a strong financial position with a strong balance sheet. Our operating income relies on four primary income streams: cash donations with bikes and sewing machines, cash donations from the twice-annual solicitation, corporate donations, and revolving funds and fees from our international partners. Solicitations were not as positive as years prior, but larger donations from a few long-term supporters helped us meet our solicitation goals. Direct corporate donations have been decreasing over the past twenty years due to a focus on employee matching programs. As a category, corporate donations also exceeded budget expectations largely due to David’s efforts with a historic donor. Our sustaining international partners are expected to reimburse Pedals for Progress for the cost of containers or LCL shipments. These are categorized as “revolving funds”: the partners save income to pay for successive shipments. This category met expectations as the number of containers shipped to sustaining partners met the plan. Overall, 2022 operating income exceeded budget.

Operating expenses include four large categories: employee and officers compensation, shipping and packing, collections expenses, and office rent. In 2022, employee and officer’s compensation exceeded budget largely due to the addition of the Vice President of Operation. Shipping and packing expenses were higher than expected largely due to the increased cost of shipping and fuel. Collection expenses, office rent, and all remaining minor expenses categories met expectations.

P4P in 2022 had a few extraordinary items. P4P has a conservative investment policy. 2022 was a good period for stocks, bonds, and mutual funds as they generally increased in value. These generated other income for P4P as did some of the stock donations.

Overall, 2022 exceeded financial expectations for P4P.

Balance sheet and profit and loss statements are attached.

Corporate Donors

FedEx logo FedEx continues to deliver to New Jersey, at no cost, the bicycles collected by the Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, based in Burlington, Vermont.

General Pallet, at no cost, supplies the specialized pallets required for international shipping of SP sewing machines.

Thank you to the many corporations that participate through matching gifts.

We are very thankful for the support of these organizations and the recognition they have given us.

Key Volunteers

Pedals for Progress depends on the efforts of volunteers, several hundred of them, to publicize and work collections, prep bikes for shipping, help us warehouse bikes, and eventually load them into containers bound for our partner agencies overseas.

We would like to thank Daryl Detrick with the Warren Hills Regional HS Computer Science Club for all of their volunteer hours helping to pack outgoing shipments. A special thanks to Michael Sabrio for managing at bike collections and taking over the Webmaster duties. We thank our Tinkerers Dennis Smyth and Mary O’Brien for their excellent work refurbishing many of the sewing machines we shipped.

We especially thank these collectors:

Jerry Agasar with the Newtown, PA, Rotary Club: 159 bikes and 21 sewing machines
Casey Walsh with Faith Lutheran Church: 116 bikes and 5 sewing machines
Joanne Heidkamp with the Green Mountain RPCVs: 249 bikes and 155 sewing machines
Christine Potts with St. John’s Episcopal Church: 165 bikes and 24 sewing machines
Daryl Detrick with the Warren Hills HS Computer Science Club: 153 bikes and 53 sewing machines

Program Challenges

Pedals for Progress faced several challenges in our fiscal 2022 year but ended the year on a strong and positive note. Most of these challenges stem from rippling effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic, inflation, and increased prices of gasoline and shipping.

Internally, the organization had to take on a larger budget than usual to ensure an effective transition to our new leadership. As we planned in 2021, Alan Schultz was elected President in August 2022 and founder David Schweidenback became Vice President of International Programs. The internal transition proved to be effective, but the added salary was burdensome.

The bicycles collected this year continue to be the highest quality bikes that we have ever collected. The most common brand name was Trek and we collected over 80% mountain bikes in the adult bike category. The vast majority of bikes we collected were originally sold in a bike shop for a relatively high price. P4P collected almost no lesser quality mass merchandise bikes that are sold at big box stores like Walmart.

Though the quality of bikes was higher than ever, our volume was significantly down due to the pandemic. The fall collection season was successful and helped us ship the majority of our five containers for the 2022 fiscal year. However, spring collections were down significantly as the average number of bikes was lower than years prior. As we are reliant on the success of collections to keep us financially active, we had to rely heavily on our summer solicitation to help us keep up with our added salary line and general operations.

The summer solicitation was not as successful as we would like but by the end of August, we were able to rebound thanks to several large donations from some long-time supporters. These donations allowed us to finish off the year on a positive note and remain cash positive.

Pedals for Progress developed partnerships worldwide to diversify relationships and reduce the risk of events in one country or region negatively affecting our operations. Since reduction of transportation costs is doubtful, we are seeking sponsorships to supplement our African and other high cost partnerships. Partner programs in Central America, which have a landed cost of under $15 per bike, are successful financially and require no further subsidies to continue shipments. P4P inland partners in Eastern Europe and Africa will fail without financial support. International shipping costs in these regions run from $16 per bike on the coast to as high as $38 inland (Uganda).

Shipping the sewing machines within bicycles shipments makes the delivery of these heavy objects affordable. However, our bicycle partners need relatively few sewing machines. The challenge is to find the funding to deliver machines to small sewing programs like the Mityana Open Troop Foundation in Uganda or to get them delivered very inexpensively. Most new sewing projects require only two pallets of machines; we pack 36 machines on a pallet. Due to that low volume, we previously shipped via air freight, which is very expensive. P4P developed in 2013 the capacity to ship by boat individual pallets of sewing machines at a very reasonable cost. This low-cost shipping allows us to expand our small standalone sewing machine projects globally.

Goals for 2023

During fiscal 2023, Pedals for Progress plans to ship approximately 3,600 bicycles and 600 sewing machines. Collection sites where we send our personnel will be limited to New Jersey and the greater suburbs of New York and Philadelphia. Bicycles collected outside this region need to be delivered to our New Jersey warehouse by the collection sponsors.

Pedals for Progress challenges are financial, not supply-side driven. With more funding, we can collect significantly more bikes within our current footprint and initiate more programs internationally. Increasing production requires more staff for attending potential collections and more vehicles on the road. The operational costs of producing the bicycles and sewing machines are significant. P4P is unable to accept bicycles without an accompanying cash donation; this limits production. Most large charities do not like to give money for operational expenses, but in our case, it is the collection efforts that produce the product we deliver. In many ways, you can think of P4P as a trucking company. Every trip in the truck produces more bicycles and sewing machines, our products. These products make the difference globally by helping people in need help themselves.

2022 Board of Trustees

Jamie Acosta
Jerry Agasar
John Alexander, Secretary and Assistant Treasurer
Daryl Detrick
Ann Fitzgerald
Sarah Jannsch
Richard Millhiser, Chair
David Schweidenback, Treasurer and VP, International Programs
Casey Walsh
Andrew Williams
Bob Zeh

Staff

Alan Schultz, President
David Schweidenback, VP, International Programs and Founder
Michael Sabrio, Webmaster
Gary Michel, VP, In-kind donations
Robert Delghiaccio, Warehouseman
Lori Smith, Office Manager

Further information about Pedals for Progress is available at www.p4p.org. This includes our financial statements, IRS Form 990s, and information about our 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax-exempt status.

To receive our newsletters or information on how to collect bikes and/or sewing machines, contact alan@p4p.org. To request a donation of a container of bicycles or sewing machines, contact Dave at dschweidenback@gmail.com.

Guatemala

December 2022: FIDESMA, Guatemala, Container #23

December 14, 2022 Michael Sabrio

Dear David,

We want to inform you that we have the bikes at the FIDESMA Foundation. Because of problems at the shipping companies, we had some trouble getting the container out of the port. The companies resolved their problems and we finally got the container. We have unpacked it. Here is the inventory:

Description	Quantity
Bicycles: mountain, BMX, touring, and road bikes	455
Parts	23 bags: helmets, wheels, saddles, tires, tubes, pedals, baskets, pumps, and various other spare parts
Sewing machines	15
Plywood	9

We are now working to clean, lubricate, and repair the bikes. And we are working on the other activities we must do to make them ready to sell. The bikes will be ready to display in our shop in plenty of time for Christmas. Everything will be fine.

We at FIDESMA thank you for this shipment. We are sure that the people – adults, youths, and children – will be very grateful when we deliver the bicycles to their communities and they can use their bikes for work, sports, exercise, and travel, even travel to places far from home. Everyone thinks that it is a great benefit to be able to use a bicycle.

Margarita Caté de Catú and Colleagues
FIDESMA
December 2022

Sewing Partners, Uganda

Report from Uganda, Fall 2022

November 23, 2022 Michael Sabrio

By Mathew Yawe
Fall 2022 Newsletter

Mityana Open Troop Foundation is a Community-based Organization started in 1997 by a group of Boy Scouts who had been affected by socioeconomic issues leading to dropping out of school and unemployment, while others had been affected by HIV/AIDS due to loss of their relatives/guardians. The high dropout rate led to high crime rates among youths in Uganda. The initiative started by conducting training on HIV/AIDS, health talk-shows, environmental protection, child nutrition in the most risky communities, promoting food security, providing support and education to vulnerable children and conducting functional adult learning to combat illiteracy.

Vocational Training Project

Because of the above concerns, our organization started a Vocational Training project in 2007 by recruiting and training vulnerable youths, widows, and orphans in sustainable skills such as sewing and fashion design, cosmetology, hair dressing, motor mechanics, and agriculture.

Group at treadle sewing machine — Before Sewing Peace Project machines

However, while much of our interest was in training youths in sewing and other occupational skills, we lacked the funding to afford the tools and machines that we needed.

Our project UK partner, Mr. Chris Eldridge, found the Sewing Peace Project USA, and we wrote an application for sewing machines to Mr. David Schweidenback. Sewing Peace allocated us 72 sewing machines. This was a great miracle which we were not expecting to happen!!

At the beginning, the project had two manual sewing machines shared by 30 trainees!!

Uganda group in classroom — Sewing Peace Project machines

The donated refurbished sewing machines to the Mityana Open Troop Foundation were in very good condition, much better than the machines being sold in Kampala. The Sewing Peace machines were installed in our sewing workshop. Some of the machines were given out to the project graduating youths as start-up machines to enable them to start their own workshops within their communities. In Uganda, a sewing machine makes a very great difference in one’s daily income!

Donated Machines Generate Income for Our Project

Some of the donated sewing machines are being sold in our shop at a cheaper price to some of the Ugandan schools, community based organizations, and artisans, who can’t afford buying the so-called new Chinese machines.

The profit from our shop is used to pay shipping costs, Ugandan custom taxes, teachers’ salaries, and electricity bills.

Achievements of the Sewing Peace Project

As a result of the donated sewing machines since 2010, the project has received over 800 sewing machines, 451 projects graduates were provided each a start-up sewing machine.
The Mityana Open Troop Foundation has been selling at inexpensive prices the remaining sewing machines to other Ugandan charities, schools (both secondary and primary), and individual artisans. The income from the machines we sell has enabled us to pay teachers, electricity bills, and maintenance costs.
The project has over 40 sewing machines in the sewing workshop. This has enabled more hands-on training than when we started in 2010 with 3 machines.
The project has become an Ugandan sewing machine importer, paying import taxes to the Government.
The project owns a Sewing Shop in our town, equipped with an embroidery machine able to create school badges, names on uniforms, making school uniforms. The shop is selling refurbished machines to artisans, schools, and charities. These machines are much better than the Chinese machines in the market.

Ugana graduate in her workshop — Graduate in her workshop

Our project graduates have managed supporting their families: paying for food, medication, school fees, and scholastic materials for their young brothers and sisters, and paying rent for their workshops.

The majority of our project trainees are youths who had dropped out of schools due to socioeconomic factors. Some of them were even previously selling sex on the streets at a young age for survival and without thinking of becoming pregnant or contracting STIs.

Challenges

The project encounters challenges in raising machine shipping costs, including paying the Ugandan Custom import taxes.
Lack of a toilet and washing rooms at our project.
Insufficient permanent classrooms/workshops.
Lack of clean water for trainees.

Conclusion: Many thanks to the Sewing Peace Project, USA, all volunteers involved in the collections of machines, including refurbishing activities. We also extend our sincere thanks to Mr. Chris Eldridge from the UK, who is always supportive to our project.

‘The Good You Do to Others, Comes Back To You Unknowingly.’

Business

2022 Fall Solicitation

November 23, 2022 Michael Sabrio

Fall 2022

Dear Donors, Friends, and Supporters of Pedals for Progress and Sewing Peace,

Our fall collection season started off with a bang with our first shipment of sewing machines to Somalia! We sent 72 sewing machines to Mogadishu, Somalia with the Hiran Youth Council, that were accompanied by other used goods being sent by the organization. With these machines, the Council will open a sewing school to teach young people of Mogadishu the vocation, giving them the necessary skills to develop their own small businesses. We are very excited to have this new partnership in an area of the world that desperately needs economic assistance.

With this new beginning, we would also like to report on the success of the Mityana Open Troop Foundation. Located in Mityana, Uganda, their operation has humble beginnings starting as a community-based organization led by a group of Boy Scouts in 1997, who had been affected by the overreaching socio-economic issues of the area exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. From there, the Mityana Open Troop Foundation has developed from a small training operation to a full-on economic enterprise that now has the capacity to import sewing machines from India to further fund their community outreach efforts. This is a textbook example of what Sewing Peace and Pedals for Progress wishes to achieve with our efforts. It is a success story of a small organization that grew to a commercial enterprise. We encourage you to read more about this story. It is in the latest issue of our InGear/InStitch newsletter.

These stories do not happen overnight. The success of our partners overseas relies on the work we do here in the United States. Pedals for Progress and Sewing Peace is grassroots – we rely on the commitment of locals willing to donate their items rain or shine; the groups, Rotary clubs, and religious organizations that sponsor our events; and the generosity of our donors located in and far beyond the tree-state area of New Jersey. Pedals for Progress and Sewing Peace is a network of people that want to help families in developing countries by giving them a fair shot at life. I would like to ask for your continued support and to please donate today. Thank you!

Alan Schultz, President, P4P/SP

Sewing Partners, Somalia

Somalia: New Partner, 2022

November 20, 2022 Michael Sabrio

By Abdi Noor
Fall 2022 Newsletter

[ Editor’s note: On September 2, 2022, we made our very first shipment to Somalia. Our partner there is the the Hiran Youth Council. Abdi Noor, a Somali now living in Portland, Maine, is our contact. Here is his message to P4P/Sewing Peace.]

I would like to sincerely thank you on behalf of the staff of the Hiran Youth Council and on behalf of the poor women and youth training in our program. From your generous donation we will be providing sewing machines to poor youth and women to earn an income through our program.

Your support has enabled us to provide free tailoring training to 72 poor youth and women, who will receive the machines after completing their courses. We are also planning to receive additional sewing machines from Sewing Peace to distribute more machines to students. Your support enabled us to provide refreshment to the poor women and youth for better learning.

Training programs like ours are great opportunities for our women and girls to further develop their marketable skills and take a step towards self-independence.

Without you, it would not be possible for them to receive this training or these machines that will allow them to start sewing at their homes. With time, they will be able to develop sewing businesses and earn a livable income.

Your support will bring them bright futures to our trainees. Many thanks again! We will keep you updated about our work and the progress of our graduates.